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LIBRARY 

OF   THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

Class 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

Microsoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/civilgovernmentiOOmcgorich 


Civil  Government 
in  the  Philippines 


BY 

DUDLEY  O.  McGOVNEY, 

Teacher  of  History  and  Civil  Government  in  the 
Normal  School^  Manila ,  P.  L 


CHICAGO 

SCOTT,  FORESMAN  &  COMPANY 

1903 


d^ 


Copyright  1903, 
By  Scott,  Foresman  and  Company 


TOBT    O.   LAW  CO.,  PHINTEM  AND  BINDERS,  CHICAGO 


PREFACE. 

The  importance  of  giving  instruction  in  the  pub- 
lic schools,  upon  the  subject  of  civil  government, 
can  hardly  be  overestimated. 

Every  child  before  he  leaves  the  public  school 
should  be  taught  the  general  plan  of  the  govern- 
ment under  which  he  lives.  This  knowledge  not 
only  creates  in  his  mind  a  loyalty  to  his  govern- 
ment, but  enables  him  more  perfectly  to  comply 
with  the  duties  of  citizenship. 

I  have  read  the  manuscript  of  "  Civil  Government 
in  the  Philippines/'  by  Dudley  O.  McGovney,  with 
some  degree  of  care  and  have  found  it  to  contain  a 
true  statement  of  the  form  and  workings  of  the  civil 
government  in  the  Philippines. 

The  statements  of  facts,  and  the  illustrations 
given,  are  so  plain  and  simple  that  every  child  of 
proper  school  age  for  the  study  of  this  subject  can 
easily  understand  them. 

E.  Finley  Johnson, 
Judge  of  the  Court  of  First  Instance,  Manila. 


CONTENTS. 


F»ART  I. 


GOVERNMENT  IN  GENERAL 

CHAPTER  I. 
Introduction, .    13 

CHAPTER  II. 

What  is  Government? 17 

Some  Definitions  —  Giving  Justice  —  Doing  Public 
Work — Methods  and  Means — Laws — Taxas — Gov- 
ernment for  the  People. 

CHAPTER  III. 
Who    Constitute   the    Government?       .       .       .       .21 
The    Government — Public    Servants — Cleiks,    Assist- 
ants and  Laborers. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Keeping  Order, 24 

Order  Must  be  Kept — Tribal  Wars  and  Piracy- 
Brigands — Bands  of  Robbers — Crimes  by  Indi- 
viduals— Against  Society — Officials  Who  Keep  Or- 
der— Prevention  of  Crimes — The  Fear  of  Punish- 
ment— Arrest — Moral  Influence. 

CHAPTER  V. 
Protecting  the  Rights  of  Individuals,  .  .  .  .32 
Civil  Rights — Civil  Rights  are  Common  to  All — Our 
Rights  are  Limited — Examples  of  How  Rights  are 
Limited — How  Rights  are  Protected — Damages  and 
Punishment — Civil  Action — Criminal  Action — The 
Government's  Part:  in  Criminal  Actions — In  Civil 
Actions — Courts   Open  to  All — Remedy  Imperfect. 


viii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Public  Schools,      .       . 40 

Public  Schools — Primary  Schools — Provincial  Schools 
— University — The  Insular  Normal  School — Begin- 
ning— Why  We  Have  Free  Public  Schools — Bet- 
ter Schools — Compulsory  Education — The  School 
House. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Roads  and  Streets, 48 

Building  and  Repairing  Roads  and  Streets  —  Bad 
Roads — Good  Roads — Good  Streets — How  Some 
Streets  are  Built — Eminent  Domain — Roads  in  Other 
Countries — Roman  Roads — Railroads. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Some  Other  Things  Done  by  the  Government,       .       .    55 
Carrying    the    Mails  —  Telegraph  —  Asylums  —  Light 
Houses  and  Harbors. 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Taxes,       .       .       .       .       .       .       .       .  .       .58 

What  are  Taxes — The  Government  Fixes  the  Amount 
of  Taxes — Where  the  Tax  Money  Goes  May  Be 
Known  by  All — How  Taxes  are  Apportioned — Kinds 
of  Taxes — Poll  Tax — Property  Taxes — Tax  on 
Real  Property — Import  Duties — Export  Duties — 
Licenses — Stamp  Taxes — Industrial   Taxes. 

PART  II. 


TOWN,  PROVINCIAL  AND  CENTRAL  GOVERNMENT. 

CHAPTER  X. 

Divisions  of  Government, 69 

Local  Government — Provincial  Government — Central 
Government — Division  of  Duties — Which  Shall  We 
Study  First — The  Three  Branches  of  Government. 


CONTENTS  ix 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Comparison  of  Local  Governments  in  the  United 
States  and  in  the  Philippines,  .  .  .  -74 
Divisions  of  Government — New  England  Township — 
The  Settlement  of  Public  Lands — Western  Town- 
ships— Territory — State — County — The  Country  and 
the  Town  or  City — County  Government — Repre- 
sentative Government — Incorporated  Towns  and 
Cities — In  the  Philippines. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

The  History  of  Philippine  Town  Government,      .      .    81 
Origin — Spanish    Occupation — Alcaldes — Not    for   the 
People  —  Gobernadorcillos  —  Spanish    Municipios  — 
The  New  Town  Government. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

The  New  Town  Government, 88 

Municipal  Code— Town  Officials— The  Council— The 
Number  of  Councillors — The  Vice-President — Coun- 
cil Meeting — The  President's  Part  in  Law-Making 
— (i)  Tie— (2)  Veto— Duties  of  the  Council— The 
President  as  Chief  Executive — The  President  as 
a  Judge — Appointing  Other  Officials  and  Assistants 
— Suspending  and  Removing  Non-Elective  Officials 
and  Assistants. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

Town  Elections, '.       .       .103 

How  Officials  are  Chosen — The  Suffrage — Equality — 
Equality  of  Opportunity— Who  Can  Vote— When 
Elections  are  Held — Power  Returns  to  the  People — 
Parties  and  Candidates — Corruption  and  Bribery — 
Public  Notice  of  an  Election — Elector's  Oath — 
List  of  Qualified  Electors  —  Board  of  Election 
Judges— Election  Day— Voting— What  is  a  Ballot? 
— Counting  the  Vote  —  Plurality  —  Certificates  of 
Election — Qualifications  of  Officials — Oath — Bond — 
Councillors  Elected  at  Large. 


x  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  XV. 

The  Government  of  a  Province, 125 

What  the  Provincial  Government  Does — The  Pro- 
vincial Officials  —  The  Governor  —  The  Provincial 
Treasurer — The  Provincial  Secretary — The  Provin- 
cial Supervisor — The  Provincial  Fiscal — The  Pro- 
vincial Board — Who  Constitute  the  Board — Meet- 
ings— Duties  of  the  Provincial  Board — Payments 
from  the  Provincial  Treasury— How  Provincial  Of- 
ficials are  Chosen — Qualifications — Terms  of  Office 
— How  the  Governor  is  Elected — Procedure  of  a 
Convention — Quarterly  Meetings  of  Town  Presi- 
dents. 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
Municipal  and  Provincial  Revenues  and  Expenditures,  136 
Outline  of  this  Chapter — Taxes  for  the  Provincial 
Government  Only — Taxes  for  the  Town  Gov- 
ernment Only — Joint  Provincial  and  Municipal 
Taxes — Forestry  Tax — The  Taxes  of  the  Central 
Government — How  the  Taxes  Are  Levied — How 
Municipal  and  Provincial  Taxes  Are  Collected — 
How  Real  Property  is  Assessed  for  Taxation — 
Board  of  Tax  Appeals. 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

History  of  the  Establishment  of  the  New  Civil  Gov- 
ernment,       147 

War  Between  United  States  and  Spain — American  Oc- 
cupation of  the  Philippines — Cession  of  the  Philip- 
pines to  the  United  States — Insurrection  Against  the 
United  States — Establishment  of  Civil  Government 
— Central  Government — The  Philippine  Government 
Act — The  Census — The  Philippine  Assembly — The 
Legislature — Study  of  the  Philippine  Government 
Act. 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
Executive  Departments  of  the  Central  Government,  162 
Chief  Executive — Executive   Departments — Executive 
Bureaus — The  Department  of  the  Interior — Bureau 


CONTENTS  * 

of  Public  Health— The  Forestry  Bureau— Bureau 
of  Public  Lands — Bureau  of  Agriculture — Weather 
Bureau — Department  of  Commerce  and  Police — 
Constabulary— Bureau  of  Posts— Bureau  of  Tele- 
graphs— Department  of  Finance  and  Justice — Bu- 
reau of  the  Insular  Treasury — Bureau  of  Insular 
Auditor — Bureau  of  Customs  and  Immigration — 
Department  of  Public  Instruction — Bureau  of  Edu- 
cation— Other  Important  Bureaus. 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
Courts, 172 

Introductory — Laws — Kinds  of  Courts — Jurisdiction 
— The  Justice  Court — Jurisdiction  of  the  Justice 
Court — Preliminary  Hearing  of  All  Crimes — Other 
Officials  of  the  Justice  Court — Courts  of  First  In- 
stance— Jurisdiction  of  the  Court  of  First  Instance 
— Trials — The  Supreme  Court — How  the  Supreme 
Court  Tries  Causes — Decisions  of  the  Supreme 
Court — How  the  Supreme  Court  Interprets  the 
Laws — Where  the  Supreme  Court  Sits — Officials  of 
the  Supreme  Court — How  Judicial  Officers  Are 
Chosen — Terms  of  Office. 

CHAPTER  XX. 
How  a  Criminal  is  Arrested,  Tried  and  Punished,  188 
Arrest — Extradition — Examination — Habeas  Corpus 
— Right  to  Speedy  Trial — Bail — Trial — The  Plain- 
tiff's or  the  Government's  Side — Defendant's  Side 
— Argument — Decision  and  Sentence — Punishment 
— Small  Offenses. 

CHAPTER  XXI. 
Some  Principles  of  Popular  Government,        .        .        198 
Majority   Rule— Rights   of   the   Minority — The   Con- 
servative and  the  Radical — Classes. 

Appendix, 203 


PART  L 

Government  in  General 


CHAPTER  I. 

INTRODUCTION. 


It  is  hard  to  make  a  definition  of  government  that 
beginners  can  understand.  If  we  learn  what  part  of 
the  things  that  make  up  our  lives  is  done  by  gov- 
ernment, we  shall  begin  to  understand  what  gov- 
ernment is.  To  do  this,  we  must  think  about  the 
things  that  do  make  up  our  lives. 

When  a  boy  is  small  his  parents  care  for  him  be- 
cause they  love  him.  When  he  is  six  years  old, 
they  send  him  to  school  to  study.  They  ought  to 
teach  him  to  work  to  make  him  useful.  The  boy 
who  does  not  learn  to  work  while  he  is  a  child  has  a 
hard  task  before  him  in  life.  Some  time  or  other  he 
must  learn  to  work,  for  the  man  who  does  not  work 
fails. 

The  boy  goes  to  church  to  worship  God.     He 

(13) 


14    CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

learns  what  good  conduct  is  and  sees  that  the  good 
men  are  the  happy  men. 

When  he  becomes  a  young  man  he  begins  to 
work  and  to  save  money.  Perhaps  he  is  a  carpen- 
ter, a  mason,  a  blacksmith;  perhaps  he  works  in 
his  father's  fields  or  in  the  fields  of  his  neighbors. 
"  All  labor,"  he  says,  "  is  honorable.  People  must 
have  food,  therefore  the  fields  must  be  cultivated. 
I  have  gone  to  school.  I  am  more  intelligent  than 
many  of  my  neighbors.  I  can  work  to  better  ad- 
vantage." He  goes  to  his  work  happy  because  he 
has  a  purpose  in  life.  He  has  a  plan  to  save  his 
wages  and  buy  a  shop,  a  factory,  or  some  land  of 
his  own.  He  hopes  to  build  a  house,  to  marry,  to 
become  well-to-do. 

This  man  has  a  peaceful,  industrious  and  happy 
life.  He  is  successful.  He  is  well  known  to  his 
neighbors  and  he  is  honored  by  them.  They  choose 
him  town  councillor  or  town  president,  or  elect  him 
to  some  higher  office. 

Many  lives  are  different  from  this  one  and  this  is 
not  all  of  the  story  of  one  life. 

Now  what  part  does  the  government  take  in 
this? 

The  parents  take  care  of  the  child  and  give  him 
food  and  clothing;    the  government  does  not. 


INTRODUCTION  15 

The  government  builds  a  school-house  and  pays 
the  teachers;   the  child  attends  free. 

But  the  government  does  not  build  a  church  and 
compel  the  people  to  go  to  it. 

Nor  does  the  government  make  the  young  man 
work  and  save  his  money.  He  does  this  himself  be- 
cause he  wants  to  make  his  life  successful. 

The  government  does  not  build  him  a  shop,  nor  a 
factory,  nor  buy  him  land.  It  builds  a  street  in 
front  of  his  house,  and  roads  upon  which  he  can 
haul  the  products  of  his  shop  or  factory,  and  the 
grain  from  his  fields,  to  market. 

Government  does  only  a  few  of  the  things  that 
make  up  our  lives.  Yet,  there  is  a  sense  in  which 
government  takes  part  in  it  all.  Government  pro- 
tects our  lives  from  childhood  to  old  age.  It  guards 
us  from  injury  to  person  or  to  property.  It  guards 
the  school,  the  church,  our  houses,  our  fields.  It 
makes  life  safe.  We  can  plant  our  fields,  and  feel 
sure  that  when  the  grain  is  ripe  we  can  reap  it.  We 
can  save  our  money  and  buy  a  house  and  feel  rea- 
sonably sure  that  no  man  will  dare  to  destroy  it. 

If  these  things  were  not  true,  we  would  be  as 
poor  tomorrow  as  we  are  today.  It  is  the  protec- 
tion of  government  that  allows  us  to  live  in  peace, 
to  be  industrious  and  prosperous  and  to  have  better 


16    CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

and  happier  lives.  If  we  think  of  the  conditions  of 
savage  lands,  or  of  lands  where  the  government  is 
weak,  we  shall  readily  understand  the  blessings  of 
strong  and  just  government.  It  would  be  well  to 
ask  ourselves,  "  Have  we  a  strong  and  good  govern- 
ment? "  "  Does  it  make  our  lives  and  our  property- 
safe  ?"    That  is  the  most  important  question. 


CHAPTER  II. 

WHAT  IS  GOVERNMENT? 

Some  Definitions. — Government  is  keeping  order, 
giving  justice  and  doing  the  public  work. 

The  Government  is  the  group  or  groups  of  offi- 
cials who  do  these  things  and  two  things  more.  The 
two  other  things  that  the  government  does  are  col- 
lecting taxes  and  making  laws.  Thus  there  will 
be  different  answers  to  the  questions,  What  is  gov- 
ernment? and  What  does  the  government  do? 

Keeping  Order,  or  keeping  the  peace,  means  pre- 
venting all  public  disturbances,  such  as  wars  be- 
tween tribes  or  sections  of  the  country,  riots,  or 
fights  by  mobs  in  the  streets,  and  brigandage,  which 
is  robbery  by  organized  bands  of  men.  It  means 
also  the  prevention  and  punishment  of  crimes  com- 
mitted by  individuals. 

Giving  Justice  is  protecting  the  rights  of  individ- 
uals. This  is  very  difficult.  It  is  so  difficult  that 
no  government  succeeds  in  giving  entire  justice  to 
all  people.  If  a  quarrel  arises  between  two  men 
about  property,  they  may  go  to  a  judge  to  have  it 
decided.     If  a  man  is  injured  he  may  go  into  a 

(17) 


18    CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

court  to  demand  reparation  or  damages  from  the 
man  who  has  injured  him. 

Doing  Public  Work. — We  have  seen  that  the  wel- 
fare of  a  man  depends  upon  his  own  labor  and  that 
the  government  does  not  undertake  to  make  all  men 
rich  and  happy.  A  good  government  only  gives 
every  man  an  opportunity  to  do  well.  Every  man 
has  his  private  work  upon  which  he  depends  to 
make  the  best  of  his  opportunity.  Yet  there  are 
some  kinds  of  work  that  the  government  does  which 
help  us  all  in  our  private  business.  The  government 
does  them  because  they  can  be  better  done  under  its 
control  than  by  individuals,  and  because,  for  the 
welfare  of  the  government  itself,  they  must  be  done 
properly. 

Some  of  these  are: 

Establishing  and  conducting  public  schools. 

Making  and  repairing  roads  and  building  bridges. 

Carrying  the  mail. 

Erecting  and  conducting  telegraphs. 

All  governments  do  not  do  all  of  these  things. 
Some  governments  do  more,  as,  in  Europe,  operat- 
ing railroads  and  parcels  expresses ;  and  in  cities, 
furnishing  water  to  the  people,  putting  out  fires, 
conducting  hospitals,  and  doing  many  other  things. 

Method  and  Means. — The  two  other  very  impor- 


WHAT  IS  GOVERNMENT?  19 

tant  things  that  the  government  is  doing  almost  all 
the  time,  law-making  and  tax  collecting,  are  not 
a  part  of  the  definition  of  government  because  they 
are  only  the  method  and  the  means  which  the  gov- 
ernment has  of  keeping  order,  giving  justice  and 
doing  the  public  work.  By  the  laws  we  mean  the 
rules  according  to  which  all  these  things  are  to  be 
done  or  the  orders  commanding  them  to  be  done, 
and  by  the  taxes  we  mean  the  money  which  the 
people  give  the  government  for  doing  them. 

Laws  tell  how  order  shall  be  kept,  who  shall  keep 
order,  how  criminals  shall  be  caught  and  punished. 
Some  tell  what  our  rights  are  and  how  justice  may 
be  obtained.  Some  tell  how  the  public  work  shall 
be  done  and  order  the  right  persons  to  do  it.  Some 
tell  what  officials  we  shall  have  in  the  government, 
how  they  shall  be  chosen,  and  what  are  their  duties. 

Since,  in  a  civilized  country,  everything  must  be 
done  according  to  law,  law  making  is  of  the  highest 
importance.    It  is  the  method  of  government. 

Taxes. — Some  men,  for  example  the  policemen 
and  constables,  spend  all  their  time  keeping  order. 
As  they  have  to  give  up  their  private  work  they 
must  be  paid.  Judges  and  all  the  other  officials  must 
be  paid  also.  School-houses,  roads  and  all  other 
public   work   cost   money.     To   pay  for   all   these 


20    CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

things  the  people  pay  money  to  the  government 
called  taxes.  Taxes  furnish  the  means  of  carrying 
on  the  government. 

Government  for  the  People. — Why  is  order  kept? 
Order  is  kept  so  that  the  people  may  go  about  their 
daily  work  without  fear  and  without  disturbance. 
Justice  is  given,  not  to  a  few,  but  to  all  alike.  The 
rights  of  all  are  equally  protected.  The  public  work 
is  done  to  help  the  government  in  keeping  order 
and  protecting  the  rights  of  individuals,  and  to  give 
all  the  people  better  opportunities  for  success  in 
their  private  work. 

Government,  then,  is  for  the  people.  This  seems 
so  clear  and  plain  to  us  that  it  is  difficult  to  see  how 
any  one  could  ever  believe  differently.  Yet  there 
was  a  time  when  it  was  thought  that  all  govern- 
ment belonged  to  the  king.  There  were  the  king's 
army,  the  king's  ships,  the  king's  highways,  or, 
royal  roads.  The  taxes  were  collected  into  the  royal 
treasury.  The  public  business  was  called  the  king's 
business.  Now  we  know  that  all  these  are  the  peo- 
ple's. That  is  what  we  mean  when  we  say,  "  Gov- 
ernment is  for  the  people." 


CHAPTER  III. 

WHO    CONSTITUTE    THE    GOVERNMENT? 

The  Government. — We  have  learned  that  govern- 
ment  is  keeping  order,  giving  justice  and  doing  the 
public  work,  and  that  the  expression,  the  govern- 
ment, is  a  little  different.  The  government  usually 
means  the  officials,  or  the  men  who  keep  order,  give 
justice  and  do  the  public  work,  not  the  men  as  indi- 
viduals, remember,  but  as  officials.  Some  of  these 
men  go  out  of  office  from  time  to  time  and  others 
take  their  places,  but  the  government  continues. 

Here  is  a  list  of  the  most  common  officials : 

Municipal  Councillors,  who  make  laws. 

Municipal  Presidents,  Governors,  Policemen,  who 
keep  order. 

Justices  of  the  Peace,  Judges,  who  punish  crim- 
inals and  protect  the  rights  of  individuals. 

Provincial  Supervisors,  who  build  roads. 

Municipal  and  Provincial  Treasurers,  who  collect 
taxes. 

Public  Servants. — Government  is  for  the  benefit 
of  the  people,  and  so  the  officials  are  all  working 
for  the  people.    Each  official  has  his  work  to  do  for 

(21) 


22    CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

the  people.  This  work  is  carefully  fixed  by  law.  It 
is  a  wrong  idea  to  think  that  the  President  of  a  town 
or  a  Governor  has  great  power  to  make  the  people 
do  whatever  he  pleases.  He  has  no  power  at  all  to 
make  the  people  do  what  the  law  does  not  order. 
But  he  has  great  power  to  make  the  people  do 
what  the  law  does  order.  The  humblest  citizens, 
the  Presidents  and  Governors  alike,  must  all  obey 
the  laws.    They  are  equal  before  the  law. 

Officials  are  rightly  expected  to  set  the  example 
of  obedience  to  law.  They  can  best  do  this  if  they 
remember  that  they  have  only  the  powers  given 
them  by  the  law  and  no  more.  That  they  are  se- 
lected by  the  people  to  perform  a  certain  service  for 
the  people.  That  the  people  are  not  the  servants  of 
the  officials;  that  the  officials  are  the  servants  of 
the  people. 

It  is  a  great  honor  to  be  chosen  by  the  people  to 
do  the  public  work,  because  by  choosing  a  man  the 
people  say  that*  they  think  that  he  is  the  best  man. 
But  they  do  not  choose  an  official  simply  to  honor 
him.  They  want  the  best  service.  The  honor  ac- 
companies the  service. 

Clerks,  Assistants  and  Laborers. — In  performing 
the  public  service  the  officials  employ  many  helpers, 
such  as  clerks,  assistants  and  laborers.    Good  serv- 


WHO  CONSTITUTE  THE  GOVERNMENT?      23 

ice  depends  a  great  deal  upon  the  honesty  and 
efficiency  of  these  helpers.  Clerks  and  assistants 
must  not  become  arrogant  in  their  treatment  of  the 
people.  They  must  not  forget  that  the  people  pay 
them  and  that  they  are  employed  to  do  the  people's 
work. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  people,  when  they  under- 
stand these  things,  should  always  try  to  avoid  inter- 
fering during  working  hours  with  officials  or  clerk? 
who  are  doing  their  part  of  the  public  work.  They 
will  not  bother  clerks  by  asking  useless  questions, 
nor  quarrel  with  the  policeman  when  he  reminds 
them  of  their  duty,  nor  call  upon  the  officials  during 
office  hours  to  have  long  social  talks  with  them. 
The  officials  are  very  busy  if  they  do  their  work 
well  and  their  time  belongs  to  all  the  people  and  not 
to  the  visitor  only. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

KEEPING  ORDER. 

Order  Must  Be  Kept. — The  greatest  difference 
between  civilized  and  uncivilized  lands  is  that  in 
the  former  order  is  better  kept.  Everywhere,  and 
at  all  times,  labor  and  study  are  the  two  sources  of 
progress.  Labor  and  study  cannot  go  on  success- 
fully where  disorder  and  crime  are  great.  Peace 
and  order  are  the  first  essentials  to  prosperity  and 
enlightenment. 

Bad  men  exist  in  all  countries,  because  human 
nature  is  far  from  perfect.  They  are  enemies  of  the 
people  who  are  trying  to  build  up  their  homes  in 
peace.  Their  hands  are  against  all  men  and  against 
their  country.  They  live  by  taking  the  property, 
and  often  the  lives,  of  others.  Such  men  are  usu- 
ally ignorant.  Even  the  criminals  with  some  intel- 
ligence have  something  wrong  with  their  brains, 
for  they  refuse  to  see  how  much  easier  it  is  to  make 
their  living  by  honest  labor  than  to  lead  a  wild, 
hard  life,  hunted  from  place  to  place,  to  die  at 
last  in  poverty  and  dishonor. 

Life  and  property  must  be  protected  from  such 
(24) 


KEEPING  ORDER  25 

men.  The  government  must  be  watchful  and  active. 
Indeed  when  disorders  are  numerous,  the  govern- 
ment has  to  give  nearly  all  of  its  attention  to  stop- 
ping them.  For  have  we  not  learned  that  this  is  the 
first  duty  of  government?  Yet  in  proportion  as 
people  become  more  and  more  intelligent,  and  know 
more  about  government,  keeping  order  becomes 
easier  and  easier.  The  officials  for  keeping  order 
do  their  duties  watchfully  and  actively  and  the 
other  officials  have  their  time  free  to  carry  on  their 
share  of  the  government  business. 

Tribal  Wars  and  Piracy. — From  the  time  that  we 
know  anything  about  the  history  of  the  Philippines 
down  to  the  first  part  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the 
Moros  of  Jolo  and  Mindanao  carried  on  a  war 
against  the  people  of  all  the  islands  north  of  them. 
In  their  strong,  swift-sailing  prahus,  some  large 
enough  to  carry  fifty  or  a  hundred  men,  they  raided 
the  coasts  of  the  Visayas,  attacking  and  burning 
the  towns  and  carrying  away  men,  women  and  chil- 
dren to  slavery.  The  people  fled  to  the  mountains 
and  often  remained  for  years,  afraid  to  return  to 
their  lands  on  the  coast.  The  lands  lay  in  waste; 
the  weeds  and  wild  grass  sprang  up  and  effaced 
the  work  of  a  lifetime. 

Sometimes  their  fleets  entered  Manila  Bay.    Once 


26    CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

they  burned  the  Spanish  ship-yards  at  Cavite.  The 
Spaniards  tried  at  different  times  to  conquer  them, 
but  without  much  success.  Finally  in  i860  they 
brought  out  some  small  steam  gun-boats  from  Spain 
and  succeeded  at  last  in  stopping  the  Moro  raids* 
While  fighting  against  the  Moros  in  1902,  the  Amer- 
ican soldiers  set  free  the  descendants  of  many  north- 
ern Filipinos  who  were  still  held  as  slaves. 

Brigands. — All  through  Spanish  times  some  parts 
of  the  Philippine  Islands  were  molested  by  the 
"  remontados,"  or  brigands.  They  were  robbers 
who  lived  in  the  mountains,  in  bands,  and  came 
down  to  the  lowlands  to  rob  and  sometimes  to  kill. 
In  the  dry  seasons,  from  time  to  time,  the  gov- 
ernment organized  raids  against  them.  During  the 
bad  seasons  vigilance  relaxed. 

No  government  can  keep  order  if  it  acts  only 
while  the  sun  shines.  A  good  government  is  active 
during  sun  and  rain,  day  and  night.  "The  eye  of 
the  law  never  sleeps.,, 

Bands  of  Robbers. — The  four  years  of  war  from 
1896  to  1900  left  this  country  in  a  badly  disturbed 
condition.  Many  men  had  lost  their  occupations. 
Many  of  the  fields  had  become  overgrown  with 
wild  grass.  The  farm  animals  had  died  from  a  dis- 
ease called  the  rinderpest.     Food  was  very  dear. 


KEEPING  ORDER  27 

The  spirit  of  unrest  was  abroad  throughout  the 
land.  The  long  disorder  created  in  the  minds  of 
many  a  lust  for  a  wild  life.  They  took  a  backward 
step  in  civilization;  the  old  spirit  of  brigandage 
awoke.  When  peace  came  most  of  the  people  re- 
turned to  their  neglected  labor,  but  some  of  the 
wild  spirits  still  preferred  the  life  of  robber  and 
marauder.  They  organized  in  bands.  Sometimes 
they  disguised  themselves  in  the  old  rebel  uniform 
and  pretended  to  be  fighting  for  their  country. 
Sometimes  they  pretended  to  be  constabulary.  En- 
tering the  towns  and  firing  on  the  police,  they 
robbed  the  treasuries  of  the  towns  and  many  pri- 
vate houses.  People  were  afraid  to  go  to  their 
work  and  the  police  often  went  into  the  fields  to 
guard  the  laborers. 

Refusing  the  liberties  and  progress  which  peace 
offered  them,  these  men  set  about  destroying  the 
liberties,  the  lives,  and  property  of  others.  Of  course 
they  were  punished  for  this.  The  laws  were  en- 
forced with  vigor  and  firmness.  The  men  who 
refused  to  obey  the  law  were  crushed  by  it. 
The  law  cannot  deal  gently  with  such  men.  The 
burdens  of  the  people  were  heavy  enough.  The 
evils  of  this  disorder  they  could  not  bear.  After  a 
time   order   was    restored,   but   how   much   better 


28    CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

would  it  have  been  for  us  all  if  we  could  have  been 
spared  all  this  crime,  disorder,  and  punishment. 

Crimes  by  Individuals. — We  have  been  speaking 
of  crimes  by  bands.  These  exist  only  in  countries 
or  places  which  are  in  bad  disorder.  Crimes  by  per- 
sons acting  alone  or  with  a  few  helpers,  that  is, 
crimes  by  individuals,  happen  more  or  less  in  all 
countries ;  for  as  we  have  said,  human  nature  is  far 
from  perfect. 

The  names  of  some  crimes  are:  Assault,  arson, 
bribery,  burglary,  extortion,  forgery,  murder,  libel, 
perjury,  riot,  robbery,  treason.  These  are  all  very 
grave  crimes,  and  in  law  are  called  felonies.  Minor 
crimes  are  called  misdemeanors. 

In  one  sense,  all  crimes  are  considered  crimes  by 
individuals.  If  a  crime  is  committed  by  a  band, 
each  man  is  responsible  and  each  man  has  to  suffer 
his  punishment. 

Against  Society. — It  is  true  that  most  crimes  are 
against  individuals,  or  against  the  property  of  in- 
dividuals. But  we  have  seen  that  crimes  create  dis- 
order and  injure  every  one  in  the  community  in 
which  they  are  committed.  So  the  people  have 
made  the  duty  of  punishing  crimes  a  public  duty 
belonging  only  to  the  government.  No  man  has  a 
right  to  avenge  himself.    Every  man  has  a  right  to 


KEEPING  ORDER  29 

protect  himself  if  he  is  attacked,  even  to  kill  the 
man  who  is  about  to  kill  him.  But  no  private  citi- 
zen has  a  right  to  punish  a  criminal.  Judging  and 
punishing  is  the  work  of  public  officials.  We  say 
that  all  crimes  are  done  against  society. 

Officials  Who  Keep  Order. — The  police  of  the 
towns  have  the  principal  part  in  keeping  order. 
They  are  under  the  command  of  the  town  President. 
Upon  these  men  rests  the  responsibility  for  order  in 
the  towns.  The  Governor  of  the  province  is  also  a 
peace  officer.  He  is  above  the  President  in  com- 
mand of  the  police,  and  may  order  the  police  of  one 
town  to  another  to  stop  disorder.  To  aid  in  keep- 
ing order  in  the  towns  and  in  the  country  there  are 
the  constabulary  commanded  by  officers,  who  are 
under  the  orders  of  the  Civil  Governor. 

In  times  of  disorder  the  Governor  of  a  province 
may  call  out  the  constabulary;  and  in  times  of 
great  disorder  he  may  call  upon  the  army  of  the 
United  States  for  assistance. 

The  whole  force  of  the  government  can  thus  be 
brought  to  stop  crime.  How  weak  a  criminal  looks 
when  he  stands  before  this  great  power  which  he 
brings  against  himself! 

Prevention  of  Crimes. — Policemen  and  constables 
should  be  active  to  anticipate  crime  and  prevent  it. 


30    CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

Policemen  should  attend  public  meetings  and  go 
wherever  crowds  assemble.  They  should  walk  the 
streets  at  night.  Wherever  crime  is  most  likely  to 
happen  there  should  be  the  policeman.  His  pres- 
ence alone  is  a  defense.  If  disorder  of  any  kind  be- 
gins it  is  easier  to  stop  it  at  once  than  it  is  after  the 
disorder  has  grown.  "  A  stitch  in  time  saves  nine  " 
is  a  good  adage  for  the  policeman.  Vigilance  is  his 
greatest  virtue. 

The  Fear  of  Punishment. — A  wholesome  fear  of 
the  law  is  good  for  the  people.  By  this  is  not 
meant  that  the  people  should  tremble  before  the 
officials  as  people  did  of  old  before  their  unjust 
kings.  It  means  that  the  criminal  should  know  that 
punishment  is  certain  to  follow  a  crime,  so  that  he 
will  fear  to  commit  it.  It  means  also  that  the  un- 
just official  should  tremble  before  every  citizen,  for 
any  citizen  may  accuse  him  before  a  court  and  have 
him  punished  according  to  the  law. 

The  fear  of  punishment  prevents  many  crimes. 

Arrest. — Arrest  is  not  a  part  of  the  punishment. 
Many  innocent  people  are  arrested  and  set  free 
again.  Arrest  is  only  the  holding  or  keeping  of  a 
man  until  his  guilt  or  innocence  is  decided. 

Yet  people  dislike  very  much  to  be  arrested.  The 
thought  of  arrest  frightens  criminals  and  even  good 


KEEPING  ORDER  31 

people.  Arrest  is  the  great  power  of  the  policeman. 
He  walks  up  to  the  man  whom  he  is  going  to  arrest, 
touches  him,  or  takes  hold  of  him,  and  says,  "  I  ar- 
rest you,"  or  "  You  are  under  arrest."  There  is  no 
resisting  him.  Resistance  of  arrest  is  a  crime.  Be- 
sides, he  has  his  club,  and  his  gun  or  pistol  to  en- 
force arrest.  If  you  resist,  all  the  policemen  and 
all  the  constables  and  all  the  soldiers  in  the  country 
will  come,  if  necessary,  to  take  you. 

Arrest,  which  is  no  disgrace  to  the  innocent,  is 
feared  by  all,  and  the  fear  of  arrest  deters  many 
people  from  being  criminals. 

Moral  Influence. — Better  than  fear  and  punish- 
ment to  prevent  crime  is  education.  It  is  true  that 
the  intelligent  criminal  is  the  worst  kind  of  criminal, 
but  the  usual  result  of  education  is  to  make  men 
love  peace  and  order  and  to  make  their  lives  quiet 
and  industrious.  The  more  intelligent  a  man  be- 
comes the  more  willing  he  is  to  submit  to  the  re- 
straints of  society  and  to  wish  for  himself  and  to 
allow  to  every  other  man  his  right  to  life,  liberty, 
and  happiness. 


CHAPTER  V. 

PROTECTING   THE    RIGHTS    OF   INDIVIDUALS. 

Civil  Rights. — We  believe  that  every  man  has  a 
right  to  live  the  best  life  that  he  can.  He  has  a  right 
to  the  best  home  that  he  can  build  for  himself  and 
his  family.  He  has  a  right  to  labor.  He  has  a  right 
to  cultivate  his  fields  and  to  reap  his  grain.  He  has 
a  right  to  think  for  himself  and  to  speak  his  thought 
freely.  He  has  a  right  to  worship  God  in  his  own 
way.'  He  has  a  right  to  educate  his  children  to 
make  them  better  and  more  capable.  These  rights 
are  called  civil  rights  to  distinguish  them  from  an- 
other class  of  rights  called  political  rights.  By  po- 
litical rights  we  mean  the  right  to  hold  office,  the 
right  to  vote  and  the  like.  Thomas  Jefferson  spoke 
of  civil  rights  as  the  rights  to  "  life,  liberty,  and  the 
pursuit  of  happiness.,, 

Civil  Rights  are  Common  to  All. — Every  man  has 
a  right  to  till  his  fields,  not  you  alone,  but  your 
neighbor  also.  Every  man  has  a  right  to  his  prop- 
erty. No  man  may  take  or  destroy  my  property ;  I 
may  not  take  or  destroy  the  property  of  another. 
Every  right  that  you  have  ought  to  remind  you  of 
the  rights  of  others. 

(32) 


PROTECTING  RIGHTS  OF  INDIVIDUALS        33 

Our  Rights  are  Limited. — Many  old  writers 
talked  about  natural  rights,  and  tried  to  imagine 
what  rights  a  man  would  have  if  he  lived  alone  on 
an  island  of  the  sea,  like  Robinson  Crusoe.  But  we 
do  not  live  in  that  way.  We  are  born  into  society. 
And  even  if  we  imagine  that  we  might  have  some 
great  rights  alone  on  an  island,  we  certainly  could 
not  have  all  of  them  where  there  are  so  many 
other  people  about  us.  By  society  we  mean  people 
grouped  together,  working  and  living  side  by  side, 
buying  from  each  other  and  selling  to  each  other, 
and  doing  many  things,  public  and  private,  together. 

Old  writers  also  talked  about  the  social  contract. 
They  imagined  that  there  was  a  time  once  when 
people  lived  "  in  a  state  of  nature/'  without  govern- 
ment, and  that  they  came  together  and  agreed  that 
each  one  would  give  up  some  of  his  right  to  do  as 
he  pleased,  so  that  they  could  live  together,  form  a 
society  and  have  a  government.  Study  of  the  hu- 
man race  tells  us,  however,  that  this  idea  is  false, 
that  men  always,  even  as  savages,  lived  in  societies 
just  as  the  bees,  the  ants,  and  the  monkeys  have  so- 
cieties. Yet  this  idea  of  an  agreement  to  live  to- 
gether, or  the  social  contract,  is  like  a  fable ;  it  rep- 
resents a  truth.  The  truth  is,  that,  in  society,  every 
man  has  to  give  up  some  of  the  things  that  he  might 


34    CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

want  to  do,  in  order  that  we  may  all  have  our  rights, 
or,  in  order  that  we  may  live  together  at  all. 

Examples  of  How  Rights  are  Limited. — If  a 
stream  flows  through  my  land  I  may  use  the  waters 
to  wash  my  clothes,  to  water  my  fields,  to  turn  my 
mill.  If  it  is  a  small  stream  I  virtually  own  it.  But 
I  may  not  change  the  direction  of  the  stream,  pol- 
lute the  water,  or  do  anything  to  the  stream  that 
will  cause  it  to  injure  my  neighbor  below  me.  A 
man  has  a  right  to  think  and  to  speak  his  thought 
freely;  but  if  he  tells  a  lie  with  intent  to  injure  an- 
other man,  he  has  passed  beyond  that  right.  Even 
with  good  motives,  a  man  may  pass  beyond  his 
right  and  injure  another's  rights.  A  man  may  be 
very  enthusiastic  to  get  converts  to  his  religion; 
and  we  may  think  that  he  is  a  very  good  man ;  yet, 
if  he  enters  a  church  of  another  faith  and  tries  to 
preach  against  the  will  of  the  people  in  it,  he  is  in- 
terfering with  the  right  of  the  other  people  to  wor- 
ship God  as  they  please,  and  is  doing  wrong. 

How  Rights  are  Protected. — Doing  justice,  or 
protecting  the  rights  of  individuals,  is  a  duty  of 
government,  just  as  is  the  punishment  of  criminals. 

Self-protection  is  an  exception  to  this.  If  I  am 
attacked,  I  may  use  force  to  defend  myself.  If  my 
life  is  in  danger,  I  may  kill  the  man  who  is  attack- 


PROTECTING  RIGHTS  OF  INDIVIDUALS        35 

ing  me.  I  may  defend  myself,  my  family  and  my 
house  from  a  burglar,  even  to  killing  one  who  has 
entered  my  house.  I  may  retake  my  property  from 
a  thief  who  is  carrying  it  away.  Self-protection  is 
a  very  limited  right,  however.  If  I  use  more  force 
than  is  reasonable  in  defending  myself,  I  may  be 
guilty  of  a  crime.  Self-protection  is  only  to  prevent 
injury. 

If  a  man  has  injured  me  and  gone  away,  if  he 
strikes  me  and  runs,  I  cannot  run  after  him  to 
avenge  myself.  My  right  to  strike  or  to  fight  back 
ends  just  as  soon  as  I  am  out  of  danger.  I  cannot 
take  justice  into  my  own  hands.  I  cannot  say :  This 
man  struck  me  yesterday  or  five  minutes  ago ;  now 
I  will  strike  him.  If  a  man  has  killed  my  horse  I 
cannot  take  his  cow  to  get  redress.  That  would  be 
Btealing. 

Redress  is  in  the  hands  of  the  courts.  If  I  have 
suffered  a  wrong  there  is  only  one  way  that  I  can 
get  redress :  that  is,  to  go  to  a  Judge  and  complain 
against  the  man  who  has  wronged  me.  The  Judge 
will  order  that  man  to  come  into  the  court.  The 
Judge  will  hear  what  I  have  to  say,  what  the  man 
who  has  wronged  me  has  to  say,  and  what  other 
people  who  know  about  the  alleged  wrong  have  to 
say.     He  will   then   decide   whether   I   have   been 


36    CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

wronged  or  not.  He  will  alsa  decide  how  much  I 
have  been  wronged.  If  the  man  has  a  horse,  a  hat, 
or  a  house  that  belongs  to  me,  the  Judge  will  order 
him  to  give  it  back.  If  the  man  has  injured  my  land, 
or  hurt  my  person  or  my  reputation,  or  taken  any- 
thing that  he  cannot  give  back  just  as  it  was  before, 
the  judge  will  decide  that  he  must  pay  me  a  certain 
sum  of  money. 

The  judgment  of  a  court  is  the  only  lawful  rem- 
edy for  a  wrong. 

Damages  and  Punishment,  Civil  Action,  Criminal 
Action. — This  sum  of  money  which  the  wrong-doer 
must  pay  the  injured  man  is  called  damages.  If  the 
wrong  is  also  a  crime,  the  criminal  not  only  may  be 
made  to  pay  damages,  but  may  be  punished  besides. 
He  pays  damages  for  the  injury  done  the  individ- 
ual ;  he  suffers  punishment  for  the  wrong  done  to 
society. 

What  is  done  in  court  to-  bring  a  wrong  before 
the  Judge  is  called  an  action.  There  are  criminal 
actions  to  punish  crimes  and  civil  actions  to  redress 
wrongs  to  individuals.  Where  a  wrong  is  both  a 
crime  and  an  injury  to  an  individual,  there  will  be 
two  separate  actions,  two  separate  trials. 

The  Government's  Part:  In  Criminal  Actions. — 
The  government  will  arrest  the  criminal.    The  gov- 


PROTECTING  RIGHTS  OF  INDIVIDUALS        37 

ernment's  lawyer,  usually  the  Provincial  Fiscal,  will 
come  into  court  to  prove  him  guilty.  If  the  crim- 
inal has  any  property,  he  may  be  made  to  pay  what 
it  costs  the  court  to  try  him.  So  many  criminals 
have  no  property,  however,  that  the  government 
usually  has  to  pay  the  cost  of  criminal  actions. 

In  Civil  Actions. — In  civil  actions  it  is  very  differ- 
ent. When  a  man  wants  redress  for  an  injury  the 
officials  do  not  hunt  him  up  and  bring  his  cause 
before  the  court.  He  must  come  himself  to  the 
court  and  complain.  He  must  also  hire  his  own 
lawyer.  So,  too,  must  the  man  who  is  complained 
against,  the  defendant.  These  two  sides  are  called 
the  parties  to  the  trial.  The  costs  of  the  trial  must 
be  paid  to  the  court  by  the  party  which  wins ;  but 
it  will  be  added  to  the  damages  which  the  loser  has 
to  pay  to  the  successful  party. 

Thus,  if  a  man  wants  redress,  he  must  make 
complaint,  pay  his  lawyer,  and  one  of  the  parties 
pays  the  cost  of  the  court. 

The  notice  to  the  man  complained  against  is  taken 
by  an  officer  of  the  court.  In  some  cases,  if  the  man 
does  not  come  to  answer,  he  may  be  arrested  and 
brought  in.  Witnesses  are  sent  for  and  sometimes 
compelled  to  attend.  After  the  Judge  has  given 
judgment,  he  will  direct  an  officer  of  the  court  to 


38    CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

see  that  the  loser  pays  the  damages  or  gives  back 
the  property,  according  to  the  judgment.  If  the 
loser  does  not  pay,  the  officer  of  the  court  may  seize 
some  of  his  property,  sell  it,  and  pay  the  damages 
to  the  successful  party. 

These  are  some  of  the  services  of  the  court  which 
make  up  the  cost  of  the  trial. 

Courts  Open  to  All. — Any  man  who  has  suffered 
a  wrong  may  complain  to  a  Judge  and  bring  an  ac- 
tion against  the  wrong-doer.  A  private  citizen  may 
sue  an  official  of  the  government  for  a  wrong.  In 
Spanish  times  this  could  not  always  be  done.  Some 
officials  could  not  then  be  sued.  Our  law  is  supreme 
over  all,  private  citizens  and  public  officials  alike. 
A  Judge  or  a  Governor  has  to  give  obedience  to  the 
law  just  as  a  policeman  does,  or  any  other  person, 
and  an  action  in  a  court  is  the  same  for  all. 

The  oath  which  every  Judge  takes  when  he  be- 
comes a  Judge  contains  these  words :  "  I  solemnly 
swear  that  I  will  administer  justice  without  re- 
spect to  persons,  and  do  equal  right  to  the  poor  and 
to  the  rich,  and  that  I  will  faithfully  and  impartial- 
ly discharge  and  perform  all  the  duties  incumbent 
upon  me  .  .  .  according  to  the  best  of  my  ability 
and  understanding,  agreeably  to  the  laws  of  the 
Philippine  Islands." 


PROTECTING  RIGHTS  OF  INDIVIDUALS        39 

Remedy  Imperfect. — An  American  writer  tells 
how  the  remedy  for  wrongs  often  fails.  It  fails  here 
just  as  it  does  in  the  United  States  and  in  all  other 
countries.     Here  is  what  he  says: 

"  It  is  an  impressive  idea  that  all  the  mighty 
power  of  government  is  pledged  to  the  assistance  of 
the  humblest  individual  who  has  suffered  at  the 
hands  of  another.  But  the  government  does  not  un- 
dertake to  make  good  the  loss  itself,  only  to  force 
the  other  person  to  do  so;  and  that  is  a  remedy 
which  in  more  than  half  the  cases  amounts  in  the 
end  to  nothing  at  all.  The  machinery  for  the  pun- 
ishment of  crime  is  far  more  efficient  in  operation 
than  that  for  the  protection  of  rights ;  in  this  coun- 
try as  everywhere. 

"  Lawsuits  take  time,  especially  in  cities ;  some- 
times they  take  years.  In  the  vast  majority  of 
cases  the  remedy  is  only  a  judgment  that  A  shall 
pay  B  so  much  money.  But,  if  A  has  no  money  and 
no  property,  of  what  value  is  the  judgment?  Not 
more  than  half  of  the  money  judgments  rendered 
are  ever  paid.  Lastly,  the  cost  and  trouble  of  a  law- 
suit make  it  a  very  expensive  luxury.  The  gather- 
ing of  evidence,  the  fees  of  lawyers,  the  court  fees, 
all  cost  money.  A  lawsuit  may  cost  $50;  it  may 
cost  $50,000." 


CHAPTER  VI.    ^ 

PUBLIC   SCHOOLS. 

A  Public  School  is  a  school  established  and  con- 
ducted by  the  government.  The  building  is  owned 
by  the  government.  The  teachers  are  paid  by  the 
government.  Sometimes,  but  not  always,  the  books 
are  furnished  free  by  the  government.  A  public 
school  is  free,  that  is,  every  child,  poor  or  rich,  of 
school  age,  may  attend  without  payment. 

Primary  Schools. — In  every  town  of  the  Philip- 
pine Islands  there  is  a  school  of  primary  instruction. 
A  primary  school  is  for  children  from  six  to  twelve 
years  of  age.  The  children  study,  in  the  primary 
school,  reading,  writing,  arithmetic,  geography,  his- 
tory, elementary  natural  science,  and,  perhaps,  some 
other  subjects.  When  children  have  finished  the 
studies  of  the  primary  school  they  are  far  from  hav- 
ing a  thorough  education,  but  they  have  made  a 
long  step  from  ignorance.  The  primary  school  is 
the  school  of  all  the  people,  for  all  the  people  can 
afford  to  send  their  children  to  it. 

Provincial  Schools. — After  completing  the  work 
of  the  primary  school  those  students  who  can  con- 

(40) 


PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  41 

tinue  their  education  may  enter  the  provincial 
school,  usually  at  the  capital  of  the  province. 

The  provincial  schools  have  just  been  established. 
They  have  only  made  a  beginning.  In  some  of 
them  the  work  is  too  elementary  because  students 
have  been  allowed  to  enter  from  the  primary 
schools  too  soon. 

The  standard  of  the  provincial  schools  will  be 
raised  from  year  to  year.  They  will  grow.  More 
buildings  will  be  built  and  more  subjects  will  be 
taught.  In  a  short  time  the  provincial  schools  will 
become  the  colleges  of  the  people.  A  college  educa- 
tion will  thus  be  brought  near  to  the  homes  of  the 
people.  The  provincial  school  will  also  teach  man- 
ual training,  agriculture,  methods  of  business  and 
commerce,  and  other  subjects  to  prepare  young 
people  for  the  different  occupations. 

University. — Those  students  who  have  finished 
the  courses  of  the  provincial  school  and  who  are  de- 
sirous of  obtaining  a  still  higher  education  may  en- 
ter the  university,  at  the  Capital  of  the  Archipelago, 
where  the  most  advanced  courses  will  be  given  in 
Literature,  History,  Economics,  Political  Science, 
Mathematics,  Languages,  and  Art,  and  courses  to 
prepare  for  the  professions  of  Medicine,  Law,  Civil 


42     CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

Engineering,  Mechanical  Engineering,  Electrical 
Engineering,  Agriculture,  Pharmacy,  Dentistry,  etc. 

This  is  an  outline  of  a  great  system  of  public 
schools.  If  such  a  system  is  not  yet  fully  estab- 
lished in  the  Philippines,  let  us  hope  that  it  will  be. 
Such  a  system  will  cost  a  great  deal  of  money,  all 
of  which  must  be  raised  by  taxing  the  people.  But 
its  value  will  be  far  greater  than  its  cost.  All 
enlightened  countries  of  today  give  primary  instruc- 
tion free.  Many  give  such  instruction  as  may  be 
had  in  the  provincial  schools  free.  Some  give  uni- 
versity instruction  free. 

The  Insular  Normal  School. — The  Insular  Nor- 
mal School  is  in  Manila. 

It  is  free  to  students  from  all  parts  of  the  islands. 
It  is  a  school  for  the  instruction  of  those  who  wish 
to  become  teachers. 

Before  entering  this  school  students  should  first 
finish  the  courses  of  a  provincial  school. 

Beginning. — Free  public  schools  are  modern. 
Public  schools  began  in  Europe  about  three  hun- 
dred years  ago.  The  Puritans  who  emigrated  to 
New  England  carried  the  idea  with  them.  The 
great  desire  of  the  Americans  for  equality  and  gov- 
ernment by  the  people  caused  them  to  cherish  the 
idea  and  the  public  school  became  the  most  im- 


PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  43 

portant  element  in  the  growth  of  the  nation.  A 
very  common  motto  in  America  is,  "  The  public 
schools  are  the  hope  of  the  country." 

All  the  countries  of  Europe,  although  many  have 
good  public  schools,  now  turn  to  America  for  a 
model.  Japan  did  so,  too,  and  employs  many  Amer- 
ican teachers  in  her  schools.  So  in  the  remainder 
of  this  chapter  the  schools  of  America  will  be  fre- 
quently referred  to. 

Why  We  Have  Free  Public  Schools. — In  any 
country  where  the  people  govern  themselves,  public 
schools  are  absolutely  necessary.  The  success  of 
government  by  the  people  depends  upon  the  intelli- 
gence of  all  the  people  and  not  upon  an  intelligent 
few.  The  children  are  the  future  voters.  When 
they  grow  up  they  will  elect  the  officials.  They 
will  themselves  become  the  officials  of  town,  prov- 
ince and  country.  Unless  we  desire  a  few  men  in 
each  town  to  have  all  the  power  in  the  government 
all  the  people  must  become  educated.  The  way  this 
is  accomplished  in  any  country  is  by  sending  all  the 
children  to  school  generation  after  generation. 
When  this  is  done  it  is  only  a  matter  of  time  until 
ignorance  passes  away  and  the  people  become  one 
of  the  enlightened  peoples  of  the  world. 

If  there  were  no   public  schools   the   rich  only 


44    CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

would  be  able  to  educate  their  sons  and  daughters. 
They  would  send  them  to  private  schools.  The 
poorer  parents  would  not  be  able  to  do  so.  The 
poor  would  thus  continue  poor  and  ignorant,  the 
same  from  generation  to  generation.  Such  was  the 
condition  of  Europe  not  a  long  while  ago.  The 
peasants  tilled  the  soil  and  were  too  ignorant  to  de- 
mand the  rewards  of  their  labor.  The  rich  and  the 
nobles  formed  the  small  educated  class  and  the  gov- 
erning class. 

When  people  began  to  believe  that  there  ought 
not  to  be  such  classes,  and  that  every  child  ought 
to  have  as  nearly  as  possible  equal  opportunity,  free 
schools  were  established. 

Even  those  governments  which  do  not  believe  so 
much  in  government  by  the  people  have  free 
schools  because  the  more  intelligent  people  are  the 
more  prosperous  they  are  and  the  better  the  coun- 
try. 

Better  Schools. — While  in  the  beginning  the  pub- 
lic school  was  considered  the  poor  man's  school,  it 
did  not  long  continue  so.  When  the  government 
goes  into  the  school  business  it  easily  employs  bet- 
ter teachers  and  has  better  schools  than  the  private 
schools.  The  rich  men  of  the  United  States  fre- 
quently found  that  the  children  in  the  public  schools 


PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  45 

were  getting  a  better  education  than  their  sons  for 
whom  they  were  paying  large  fees.  They  were  not 
slow  then  to  see  that  they  were  paying  to  support 
two  schools  and  sending  their  children  to  the  poorer 
one.  After  a  time  the  public  school  got  nearly  all 
the  children,  and  very  rarely  children  are  sent  to 
private  schools. 

Compulsory  Education. — In  the  United  States 
public  schools  are  established  by  the  state  govern- 
ments, each  one  for  its  own  people,  and  not  by  the 
central  government.  So  there  are  as  many  school 
systems  as  there  are  states.  Every  state  has  a  com- 
plete system  of  primary  and  grammar  schools.  Al- 
most every  town  of  a  thousand  or  more  inhabitants 
has  its  high  school.  In  nearly  all  the  states  there 
are  state  universities  and  state  normal  schools. 
There  are  also  many  colleges,  universities  and  nor- 
mal schools  not  supported  by  the  government. 

In  more  than  half  of  the  states  primary  education 
is  compulsory.  This  means  that  all  children  are 
compelled  to  attend  school,  usually  about  six  years, 
between  the  ages  of  six  and  fourteen.  The  number 
of  years  of  attendance  and  the  ages  set  differ  in  the 
different  states.  In  many  states  the  public  spirit 
and  the  desire  for  education  is  so  strong  that  almost 


46    CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

every  child  of  school  age  attends  without  compul- 
sion. 

The  School-House. — The  school-house  should  be 
a  large,  airy  building  near  the  center  of  the  town. 
It  should  be  clean  and  well  furnished.  It  should 
be  as  beautiful  as  possible.  It  should  be  a  pleasant 
and  cheerful  place  to  which  every  child  would  like 
to  go  every  day.  If  possible  the  school-house 
should  have  large  play-grounds  about  it.  Children 
are  happier  and  always  learn  faster  when  they  have 
short  recesses  for  play  out  of  doors.  They  get  fresh 
air  into  their  lungs  and  come  back  invigorated. 

The  children  should  plant  trees  on  the  play- 
ground, and  the  teacher  should  help  them.  If  there 
is  room  without  taking  away  the  playground,  let 
there  be  flower  gardens  of  all  the  beautiful  flowers 
that  can  be  found  in  the  neighborhood. 

The  school-house  should  be  well  built  of  strong 
material.  We  shall  always  have  a  school,  and 
while  we  are  building  one,  let  us  build  it  large 
enough  and  strong  enough  to  endure.  The  advice 
of  an  architect  who  has  studied  school  buildings  in 
other  countries  should  be  taken. 

In  the  United  States  nearly  every  town  has  a 
large  stone  or  brick  school-house,  sometimes  many. 
The  school-houses  are  often  the  most  costly  and  the 


PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  47 

most  handsome  buildings  in  the  town.  In  large 
cities  there  are  many  such  buildings.  Some  of  them 
look  like  palaces.  They  are  not  king's  palaces.  They 
are  the  palaces  of  education,  built  by  all  the  people 
for  all  the  people's  children.  They  cost  thousands 
of  dollars  and  are  the  pride  of  the  people. 

In  the  Philippine  Islands  the  towns  are  not  rich 
and  cannot  afford  to  build  such  expensive  buildings. 
Yet  it  is  poor  economy  to  put  up  small,  cheaply 
constructed  school-houses.  Renting  is  poor  econ- 
omy and  there  are  few  houses  already  built  that  are 
well  arranged  for  school  purposes. 

The  councillors  of  every  town  should  establish  a 
plan  to  set  aside  a  portion  of  the  taxes  each  year 
in  order  to  create  a  fund  for  building  a  school-house. 
Some  towns  would  have  to  wait  several  years  for 
such  a  fund  to  grow  large  enough,  but  in  time  they 
would  be  able  to  build  school-houses  that  would 
last  many  years. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

ROADS   AND    STREETS. 

Building  and  Repairing  Roads  and  Streets  form  a 
very  important  part  of  the  public  work.  There 
must  be  roads  to  the  farms,  to  the  mines,  and  to  the 
forests,  and  roads  from  town  to  town  for  communi- 
cation, travel,  and  business. 

The  government  needs  roads  for  the  travel  of  its 
officials,  for  the  passage  of  the  mails  and  special 
messengers.  It  needs  them  in  sending  the  police  of 
one  town  to  stop  disorder  in  another. 

Because  roads  are  necessary  to  the  government 
in  the  public  business  and  so  important  to  the  peo- 
ple in  their  private  business,  the  government  takes 
charge  of  them.  Road  building  and  repairing  are 
government  work  in  all  countries. 

Road  building  and  repairing  are  duties  that  a 
government  cannot  afford  to  neglect.  Foreign  trav- 
elers frequently  judge  governments  by  the  roads 
they  build,  and  the  prosperity  of  a  country  can  al- 
ways be  judged  by  the  condition  of  its  roads. 

Bad  Roads. — If  the  roads  from  the  farm  to  the 
market  are  bad,  the  prosperity  of  the  farmer  is  les- 
sened, no  matter  how  fertile  his  land,  because  the 

(48) 


ROADS  AND  STREETS  49 

cost  of  transporting  his  products  is  so  great.  Some- 
times he  is  not  able  to  compete  in  the  markets. 
Bad  roads  lessen  profits. 

Often  there  are  towns  without  woods  o»  forests 
that  purchase  their  timber  from  forests  a  few  miles 
away.  If  the  roads  are  bad,  timber  is  very  dear  in 
those  towns,  house  building  is  expensive  and  rents 
are  high.  If  the  towns  buy  their  fruits,  vegetables 
and  grain  from  a  distance,  bad  roads  add  to  the 
prices  of  food.     Bad  roads  make  living  dear. 

Merchants  who  go  to  the  cities  to  buy  goods  pay 
heavy  charges  for  themselves  and  for  their  goods. 
Besides,  the  long  time  spent  in  making  even  a 
short  journey  on  bad  roads  is  a  great  waste.  Peo- 
ple who  are  idlers  and  have  no  business  do  not  mind 
wasting  a  day,  but  busy  people  say,  "  Time  is 
money."    Bad  roads  zvaste  both  time  and  money. 

On  bad  roads  the  wagoners  and  drivers  find  that 
their  vehicles  soon  wear  out.  They  have  to  use 
more  horses  and  a  horse  is  able  to  go  only  a  short 
distance.  These  are  the  usual  reasons  that  their 
charges  are  high.  If  roads  were  good,  better  and 
more  comfortable  vehicles  could  be  used,  horses 
could  go  faster  and  stand  more  work.  Bad  roads 
waste  labor  of  man  and  horse. 

Good   Roads. — Good  roads  make  transportation 


50    CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

cheaper,  reduce  the  prices  of  necessaries,  make  travel 
quicker  and  in  every  way  increase  the  prosperity  of 
the  country.  Good  roads  are  roads  that  are  good 
all  the  year  round,  good  in  the  rainy  season  and 
good  in  the  dry.  Good  roads  are  as  level  as  possi- 
ble, solid,  high  in  the  center  to  drain  the  water  into 
ditches  at  the  sides. 

It  is  true  that  in  some  parts  of  the  islands  the 
country  is  low  and  flat,  and  it  is.  difficult  to  get 
proper  drainage.  Stone  and  gravel  are  very  dear 
because  they  have  to  be  hauled  a  long  distance.  In 
such  places  road  making  is  difficult,  but  by  no 
means  impossible. 

In  other  parts  the  materials  are  plentiful,  drain- 
age is  good,  and  good  roads  are  built  with  moderate 
cost. 

Bridge  building  is  a  part  of  road  building.  The 
best  bridges  are  made  of  stone  and  of  steel. 

The  building  of  roads  and  bridges  forms  a  large 
part  of  an  important  profession,  the  profession  of 
civil  engineering.  This  profession  offers  an  import- 
ant and  useful  career  to  any  young  man  who  has  the 
perseverance  to  study  at  a  university  to  prepare 
himself  for  it. 

Good  Streets  in  towns  and  cities  also  play  an  im- 
portant part  in  the  business  and  convenience  of  life. 


ROADS  AND  STREETS  51 

In  towns  and  cities  people  live  close  together  and, 
to  keep  good  health,  the  greatest  cleanliness  must  be 
observed.  Good,  solid  streets  with  proper  drain- 
age are  a  great  help  to  the  health  of  the  town.  Mud 
holes  in  the  streets  collect  filth  and  breed  disease. 
Good  streets  are  easily  cleaned  and  they  should  be 
cleaned  every  day.  The  councils  of  the  towns  make 
laws  against  throwing  filth  into  the  streets  and 
these  should  be  rigidly  enforced.  Nothing  indicates 
more  the  progressiveness  of  a  town  than  well-built, 
clean  streets. 

How  Some  Streets  are  Built. — In  the  wealthy 
cities  of  the  world  very  expensive  streets  are  built, 
costing  sometimes  $40,000  a  mile.  The  surface  of 
the  best  streets  is  made  of  asphalt,  which  is  a  black, 
slightly  springy  substance  that  water  cannot  pene- 
trate. On  the  asphalt  streets  carriages  pass  almost 
noiselessly  and  entirely  without  jar.  The  asphalt 
street  is  the  paradise  of  the  bicycle  rider.  The  sur- 
face of  many  streets  is  made  of  blocks  of  wood, 
soaked  in  creosote  to  make  them  impervious  to 
water.     Other  streets  are  made  of  cement. 

In  small  towns,  which  do  not  have  so  much 
money  for  streets  as  the  large  cities,  streets  are 
often  made  of  a  very  hard  kind  of  brick  that  lasts 
a  long  time. 


52    CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

All  such  streets  should  have  very  solid  founda- 
tions. Broken  rock  and  cement  make  the  best 
foundations.  Large  pieces  of  rock  are  put  down 
first,  then  smaller  ones  mixed  with  sand  and  ce- 
ment, and  upon  the  foundation  thus  formed  is  laid 
the  surface  of  asphalt,  cement,  creosote  block,  or 
brick. 

Eminent  Domain. — The  government  exercises 
the  right  to  place  a  road  or  street  where  it  decides 
is  best  for  the  interests  of  the  public.  For  this  pur- 
pose it  has  the  right  to  take  the  necessary  land  from 
private  owners.  Often  in  towns  and  cities  costly 
houses  have  to  be  moved  or  destroyed.  For  all 
property  taken  or  destroyed  the  government  pays  a 
fair  value.  Sometimes  land  owners  donate  the 
land  required  on  account  of  the  great  advantage 
they  receive  from  the  road. 

Roads  in  Other  Countries. — An  American  writer 
makes  the  following  statement  about  the  roads  in 
other  countries : 

"  Western  Europe,  in  general,  excels  the  United 
States  in  roads,  both  in  the  quantity  made  and  in 
their  quality.  France  leads  the  world,  having  more 
miles  of  road  than  the  whole  United  States,  al- 
though but  half  the  population.  Her  roads  crossing 
the  Alps  are  world  renowned.     Asia,  Africa  and 


ROADS  AND  STREETS  53 

South  America  are  practically  without  roads  away 
from  the  cities ;  and  the  railroad  is  coming  in  first. 
Following  are  the  numbers  of  miles  of  road  pass- 
able for  wagons  per  million  of  population  in  the 
countries  named  (round  numbers):  France,  8,000; 
Germany,  5,000;  United  States,  3,500;  Great  Brit- 
ain, 3,000;  Austria,  2,000;  Italy,  1,700;  Spain,  800; 
Russia,  600;  India,  200;  Brazil,  so.'' 

Roman  Roads. — More  than  two  thousand  years 
ago  the  Romans  constructed  roads  that  are  partly 
in  use  today.  They  were  equal  to  the  best  modern 
roads.  These  roads  ran  from  Rome  to  all  parts  of 
the  great  Empire.  By  arranging  post  stations  along 
these  roads  the  Romans  easily  traveled  one  hundred 
miles  a  day. 

Here  is  a  description  of  their  method  of  construc- 
tion taken  from  Leighton's  History  of  Rome,  page 
113: 

"  In  preparing  to  make  a  road,  two  trenches  were 
first  dug  parallel  to  each  other  to  mark  the  breadth 
of  the  road.  The  breadth  in  the  great  lines  like  the 
Via  Appia  was  about  thirteen  feet.  The  loose  earth 
between  these  lines  was  then  removed  and  the  ex- 
cavation was  continued  until  a  solid  foundation  was 
reached;  sometimes  in  swampy  land  a  basis  was 
formed   artificially.     Above   the   foundation   small 


54    CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

stones  were  first  laid ;  then  a  mass  of  broken  stones 
about  nine  inches  thick,  cemented  with  lime,  and 
above  this  were  fragments  of  bricks  and  pottery, 
about  nine  inches  in  depth,  also  cemented.  Above 
this,  large  polygonal  blocks  of  the  hardest  stone, 
fitted  and  joined  with  the  greatest  nicety,  were 
placed.  The  center  of  the  road  was  a  little  elevated 
to  permit  the  water  to  run  off.  Foot  paths  were 
constructed  on  either  side." 

Railroads. — Rivers  and  lakes  are  everywhere  the 
great  natural  highways  of  commerce  and  always 
afford  the  cheapest  means  of  transportation.  In 
these  the  Philippine  Islands  are  very  rich.  And  so 
the  sea  flowing  around  all  the  islands  is  a  free  road 
from  one  part  of  the  country  to  another. 

Railroads  have  done  a  great  deal  to  make  trans- 
portation cheap  and  quick  in  many  countries.  Yet 
railroads,  rivers,  lakes  and  seas  do  not  take  the 
place  of  roads.  There  must  be  good  roads  from 
farms,  forests  and  towns  leading  to  them. 

In  some  countries  of  Europe,  railroads  are  built 
and  managed  by  the  government.  In  the  United 
States  they  are  owned  by  private  owners  or  com- 
panies. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

SOME   OTHER   THINGS  DONE  BY   THE  GOVERNMENT. 

Carrying  the  Mails. — There  are  two  kinds  of  mail : 
official  mail  and  private  mail.  Official  mail  con- 
sists of  letters  and  papers  about  certain  kinds  of 
public  business,  and  papers  and  documents  pub- 
lished by  the  government,  which  are  sent  between 
officials  or  from  officials  to  private  persons.  Official 
mail  is  carried  without  stamps.  The  law  always 
specifies  the  officials  who  may  send  mail  without 
stamps  and  what  kind  of  mail  they  may  send  in 
this  way.  All  other  mail  is  considered  private,  such 
as  letters  about  private  business,  newspapers,  maga- 
zines, etc.  All  private  mail  must  be  paid  for  by  the 
sender. 

It  has  always  been  the  business  of  governments 
to  carry  official  mail.  It  is  only  in  quite  modern 
times,  however,  that  governments  have  undertaken 
to  carry  private  mail. 

Formerly  private  persons  had  to  send  letters  to 
their  friends  by  travelers  who  happened  to  be  going 
in  the  right  direction  or  by  special  messenger.  In 
those  days  it  cost  so  much  to  send  a  letter  that 

(55) 


56     CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

friends  and  relatives  living  far  apart  rarely  heard 
from  each  other. 

The  growth  of  commerce  and  business  has  made 
quick  mail  carrying  so  important  to  all  the  people 
that  governments  have  taken  charge  of  it. 

Now  that  people  have  become  so  much  more  in- 
telligent and  send  so  many  more  papers  and  letters 
than  formerly  the  government  is  able  to  carry  a  sin- 
gle letter  or  paper  at  a  very  small  cost. 

The  government  employs  railroads,  steamboats, 
horsemen  and  wagons  to  carry  the  mail.  You  may 
have  the  benefit  of  all  of  this  service  and  may  send 
a  letter  to  any  part  of  the  Islands  for  one  cent. 

The  low  rates  charged  for  sending  newspapers 
and  magazines  greatly  aid  in  the  spread  of  knowl- 
edge among  the  people. 

Telegraph. — The  government  has  constructed 
telegraph  lines  all  over  the  country,  both  for  official 
and  private  business.  Private  persons  may  send 
telegrams  at  a  small  cost. 

Asylums. — Some  governments  undertake  to  care 
for  the  poor  and  the  unfortunate  classes,  furnishing 
homes  for  paupers,  for  the  insane,  the  weak-minded, 
the  blind,  the  deaf  and  dumb ;  and  attempt  to  edu- 
cate the  three  latter  classes  in  order  to  give  them 


OTHER  THINGS  DONE  BY  THE  GOVERNMENT  57 

some  enjoyment  of  the  world,  from  which  their  in- 
firmities bar  them. 

Light-Houses  and  Harbors.  —  Light-houses  are 
built  along  all  the  coasts  to  aid  in  navigation. 
Harbors  are  improved  and  rivers  dredged.  These 
things  are  done  to  foster  commerce,  which  is  so 
important  to  the  welfare  of  the  whole  people. 

Only  a  few  of  the  more  important  things  done  by 
government  have  been  mentioned.  It  would  make 
a  very  long  list  to  set  down  all  the  things  that  we 
rind  being  done  by  the  governments  of  all  countries. 

Most  people  believe  that  some  governments  do 
many  things  that  ought  to  be  left  to  individuals  or 
private  companies. 

In  Cities. — City  governments  usually  provide 
water,  street  lights,  sewers,  maintain  fire  companies, 
and  sometimes  operate  street  railways,  gas  or  elec- 
tric lighting  plants,  hospitals,  libraries,  and,  in 
some  cases,  many  other  enterprises. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

TAXES. 

What  are  Taxes. — Taxes  are  money  paid  by  the 
people  to  the  government  to  pay  for  the  things 
which  the  government  does  for  them.  Paying  taxes 
to  the  government  is  in  many  ways  the  same  as 
spending  money  for  anything  else.  What  we  want 
we  buy  and  pay  our  money  for. 

We  buy  houses,  or  pay  carpenters  for  building 
them ;  we  rent  houses,  and  pay  money  for  the  use 
of  them ;  we  pay  money  to  physicians  and  lawyers 
for  their  services ;  we  pay  money  to  railroads  and 
to  steamboats  for  carrying  us  and  our  goods;  so, 
too,  we  pay  money  to  the  government,  some  for 
roads,  some  for  schools,  some  for  carrying  the  mail, 
some  for  the  services  of  judges,  policemen,  and  law 
makers.  Government,  we  must  remember,  has  no 
money  of  its  own.  The  officials  are  men  like  our- 
selves whom  we  select  to  perform  public  services 
for  us  and  we  must  pay  them  wages,  or  salaries,  and 
give  them  money  besides  to  pay  the  cost  of  the 
things  which  we  ask  them  to  do. 

The  Government  Fixes  the  Amount  of  Taxes. — 
There   is,   however,   a   difference   between   paying 

(58) 


TAXES  59 

money  to  the  government  and  paying  money  to 
railroads,  steamboats,  carpenters,  physicians  and 
the  like,  or  buying  a  horse  or  a  house.  In  paying 
for  these  latter  services  or  things  each  man  chooses 
for  himself  and  bargains  about  the  price.  In  pay- 
ing money  to  the  government,  the  government  it- 
self decides  how  much  must  be  paid,  and  says  that 
every  man  must  pay  his  share.  There  are  three 
steps  in  the  reason  for  this. 

i.  We  cannot  live  together  in  society  without 
government. 

2.  Government  means  doing  many  things  which 
must  be  paid  for. 

3.  If  society  wants  a  government  it  must  give  the 
government  the  power  to  collect  money  to  pay  for 
what  it  does. 

Where  the  Tax  Money  Goes  may  be  Known  by 
All. — Another  difference  is,  that  in  spending  money 
for  these  other  things,  every  man  sees  where  his 
money  goes  and  knows  whether  he  receives  good 
value  for  it.  These  are  things  which  he  gets  for  his 
own  use  alone.  With  taxes  it  is  different.  The 
things  that  are  bought  with  the  tax  money  belong 
to  every  one  in  common.  We  say  that  they  are 
public  property  or  public  service.  We  never  can 
estimate  exactly  how  much  it  is  worth  to  each  man 


60     CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

to  live  in  peace,  to  use  the  roads  and  bridges,  the 
schools  and  the  courts. 

Some  men  do  not  know  what  is  done  with  their 
money.  All  that  they  know  is  that  the  tax  collector 
takes  it.  Such  men  grumble  and  ask :  Why  should  I 
pay  taxes?  There  is  no  reason  for  this  grumbling. 
Every  intelligent  man  can  see  where  his  money  goes 
if  he  tries.  There  is  nothing  mysterious  or  secret 
about  it.  Only,  sometimes,  it  is  a  little  difficult.  If 
any  official  does  make  a  secret  or  a  mystery  about 
what  he  does  with  public  money,  it  is  probable  that 
he  is  committing  a  fraud  or  theft  and  ought  to  be 
arrested.  Any  citizen  may  complain  and  have  him 
arrested,  and  if  there  is  any  loss  of  public  money  it 
can  be  collected  from  the  official  bond. 

There  is  very  little  loss  of  public  money,  however. 
In  every  town  hall  are  posted  monthly  accounts  of 
money  received  and  money  spent.  The  books  of 
the  Provincial  Treasurer  may  be  examined  by  any 
one.  The  officials  of  the  central  government  care- 
fully examine  every  record.  Officials  who  try  to 
steal  or  who  wrongly  use  public  money  are  prompt- 
ly punished. 

We  may  feel  very  sure  that  every  cent  of  money 
that  we  pay  in  taxes  is  used  to  buy  us  some  service 
or  to  pay  for  some  public  work.    The  more  intelli- 


TAXES  61 

gent  people  are  the  better  they  can  understand  the 
methods  of  the  government;  the  better  they  can 
direct  how  the  money  shall  be  used  and  the  better 
they  can  watch  to  see  that  it  is  used  as  directed. 

How  Taxes  are  Apportioned. — How  much  tax 
shall  each  man  pay?  Every  man  ought  to  pay  ac- 
cording to  the  benefit  which  he  receives  from  the 
government.  As  we  have  said,  however,  it  is  im- 
possible to  estimate  exactly  how  much  benefit  each 
man  receives  for  himself.  When  we  stop  to  think 
about  it,  everyone  of  us  feels  that  he  receives  a  great 
deal  of  benefit. 

In  the  protection  of  property  and  business  the 
man  with  a  great  deal  of  property  or  a  large  busi- 
ness receives  more  protection  than  a  man  writh  little 
property  or  a  small  business. 

In  the  protection  of  life  there  would  be,  perhaps, 
no  difference,  for  every  man  feels  that  his  life  or 
health  is  as  valuable  as  any  other  man's. 

A  good  rule  is,  that  every  man  ought  to  pay  ac- 
cording to  his  ability  to  pay;  that  is,  according  to 
the  amount  of  property  that  he  has,  or  the  amount 
of  money  that  he  earns.  But  it  is  impossible  to  ap- 
ply this  rule  exactly  because  it  is  impossible  to 
find  out  just  what  each  man  earns  from  his  labor 
and  property.     As  a  result  no  system  of  taxation 


62    CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

is  perfect.  The  best  that  the  government  can  do  is 
to  make  a  plan  that  is  good,  not  perfect ;  a  plan  in 
which  the  burden  of  taxes  is  distributed  as  well  as 
may  be  according  to  benefits  and  ability  to  pay. 

Kinds  of  Taxes. — There  are  many  kinds  of  taxes. 
We  shall  study  a  few  only:  poll  taxes,  property 
taxes,  import  and  export  taxes,  stamp  taxes  and  li- 
censes. 

Poll  Tax. — The  word  "  poll  "  is  an  old  English 
word  meaning  head.  A  poll  tax  is  a  tax  collected 
from  each  person,  the  same  on  each  head.  What  is 
called  the  cedula  tax  is  a  poll  tax.  In  Spanish 
times  the  cedula  tax  was  not  a  poll  tax;  it  varied 
in  amount  from  $3.50  to  $25,  according  to  the  occu- 
pation of  the  man  taking  the  cedula.  A  " cedida" 
is  a  document  of  identification  which  every  man 
must  show  when  he  goes  into  a  court,  or  in  making 
certain  contracts.  The  only  purpose  of  this  is  to 
compel  every  man  to  pay  the  tax. 

The  cedida  tax  is  a  simple  poll  tax  now.  It  is  $1  a 
year,  and  is  paid  by  every  man  between  the  ages  of 
18  and  55.  Hundreds  of  poor  people  have  no  other 
tax  to  pay  than  this  $1  poll  tax.  It  does  not  nearly 
pay  for  the  benefits  which  they  receive. 

Property  Taxes. — The  poll  tax  is  a  tax  on  per- 
sons.   All  of  the  other  taxes  named  above  are  prop- 


TAXES  63 

erty  taxes,  that  is,  they  are  taxes  collected  from 
people  on  account  of  property.  All  property,  or  all 
the  things  that  we  own,  is  divided  into  two  classes, 
personal  property  and  real  property.  Personal 
property  means  furniture,  clothing,  books,  horses, 
machinery,  money,  food,  anything  that  we  can  take 
or  carry  with  us  in  moving  from  one  place  to  an- 
other. 

Real  property  is  lands  and  houses,  growing  trees, 
growing  grain,  fences,  and  stone  walls,  and  all  such 
improvements  to  land. 

Personal  property  is  not  taxed  in  this  country. 
In  the  states  of  the  United  States  personal  property 
is  taxed,  and  every  year  a  man,  called  the  assessor, 
goes  about  from  house  to  house  to  ask  what  per- 
sonal property  every  person  has  and  puts  it  all 
down  on  a  list  with  its  estimated  value. 

Tax  on  Real  Property. — One  of  the  chief  taxes  in 
this  country  is  a  tax  collected  on  lands,  houses  and 
improvements,  according  to  their  value.  The  town 
councils  and  the  provincial  boards  determine  what 
rate  shall  be  collected.  Let  us  suppose  that  the  rate 
of  taxation  is  }  of  i  per  cent.  This  means  that  for 
every  dollar's  worth  of  real  property  that  a  man 
owns  he  must  pay  J  of  a  cent  each  year  as  tax.    If 


€4    CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

Mr.  A  owns  land  worth  $4,000,  his  tax  will  be  $35 
per  year. 

Import  Duties. — Import  duties  are  taxes  collected 
upon  merchandise  coming  into  the  country.  Cus- 
toms revenue  or  tariffs  are  other  names  for  these 
taxes.  Let  us  suppose  that  a  merchant  has  ordered 
some  goods  sent  him  from  a  foreign  country.  When 
a  ship  comes  into  port  a  custom's  officer  goes  aboard 
the  ship  to  see  if  there  is  any  merchandise  in  her 
upon  which  duties  are  charged.  Such  merchandise 
must  be  taken  to  a  custom  house.  The  merchant 
will  go  to  the  custom  house  to  get  his  goods.  An 
officer  examines  the  goods  and  tells  the  merchant 
how  much  he  has  to  pay  according  to  the  rates  fixed 
by  law  on  the  different  kinds  of  goods. 

Let  us  suppose  that  the  merchant  receives  100 
hats  which  cost  him  in  the  foreign  country  $1 
apiece.  Let  us  suppose  that  the  rate  of  duty  is  22 
cents  a  hat.  The  merchant  would  have  to  pay  §22. 
The  government  would  receive  that  sum.  At  first 
thought  it  appears  that  the  import  tax  is  very  heavy 
on  the  merchant,  but  not  so.  If  the  merchant  paid 
no  tax  he  would  probably  sell  a  hat  for  $1.25,  adding 
25  cents  to  the  cost  on  account  of  the  expense  of  his 
business  and  for  a  profit.  When  he  has  to  pay  a 
tax  of  22  cents,  the  real  cost  of  a  hat  is  $1.22,  and  he 


TAXES  65 

must  sell  it  at  $1.47  at  least  or  $1.50,  perhaps,  to 
make  the  same  profit.  Thus  the  man  who  buys  the 
hat  to  wear  pays  back  to  the  merchant  the  money 
that  the  merchant  pays  the  government  at  the  cus- 
tom house.  The  man  who  buys  the  hat  to  wear 
really  pays  the  import  tax.  So  it  is  of  imported 
food.  The  man  who  eats  it  really  pays  the  import 
tax.  So  of  knives,  harness,  machinery,  or  anything 
for  use,  the  user  pays  the  tax.  In  this  way  the  im- 
port tax  is  distributed  all  over  the  islands  to  people 
who  wear,  eat  or  use  anything  from  a  foreign  coun- 
try. Nearly  always  when  you  buy  anything  made 
in  a  foreign  country  you  pay  a  part  of  the  price  to 
repay  to  some  one  the  money  he  has  paid  as  an 
import  tax.  Sometimes  the  store-keeper  does  not 
know  this,  and  often  the  buyer  does  not  know  it 
either;  it  is  true,  nevertheless.  This  kind  of  tax 
is  called  an  indirect  tax,  because  the  people  pay  it  to 
the  government,  not  themselves,  but  indirectly 
through  the  merchants. 

It  is  from  import  duties  that  the  central  govern- 
ment of  the  Philippines  receives  nearly  all  its  reve- 
nue. 

Export  Duties. — Export  duties  are  taxes  paid  on 
goods  going  out  of  a  country.  Usually  export  du- 
ties are  very  injurious  to  the  country  which  charges 


66    CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

them.  Let  us  suppose  that  Cuba  makes  the  same 
kind  of  hats  as  the  Philippines,  and  that  they  cost 
$2  apiece  in  both  countries.  Let  us  suppose  that 
in  Cuba  there  is  no  export  duty,  but  that  there  is 
an  export  duty  of  50  cents  in  the  Philippines.  A 
man  in  a  foreign  country  wants  to  buy  hats.  He 
says :  In  Cuba  I  can  buy  them  for  $2.  I  can  buy 
them  in  the  Philippines  for  $2  also,  but  when  I  go 
to  take  them  out  of  the  Philippines  I  must  pay  50 
cents  at  the  custom  house.  Well!  I  shall  buy  in 
Cuba,  and  save  50  cents  on  each  hat.  In  this  way 
export  duties  nearly  always  injure  the  trade  or  com- 
merce of  the  country  which  collects  them. 

Sometimes,  however,  if  some  article  is  very 
scarce,  or  no  other  country  makes  or  grows  it,  an 
export  duty  may  be  charged  without  injuring  com- 
merce. 

Licenses. — Licenses  are  permissions  to  do  certain 
things,  as  to  keep  dogs,  to  run  a  public  carromalta, 
or  to  conduct  a  certain  kind  of  business,  as,  for  ex- 
ample, a  saloon.  A  formal  license  is  a  written  docu- 
ment which  a  saloon  keeper,  for  example,  must  keep 
in  a  conspicuous  place  in  his  saloon.  If  a  license  is 
required  for  doing  anything,  it  is  unlawful  to  do  it 
without  a  license. 

Market  dues  are  a  kind  of  license.    Some  licenses 


TAXES  67 

are  sold  for  other  purposes  than  raising  money  for 
the  government.  Saloon  licenses  and  licenses  for 
cock-pits  have  in  addition  to  raising  money  the 
purpose  of  regulating  businesses  that  are  often  dis- 
orderly and  of  bad  moral  influence.  High -license 
lessens  the  number  of  such  places,  which  makes 
them  easier  for  the  police  to  watch. 

Market  dues  are  usually  small  and  only  sufficient 
for  maintaining  the  market. 

Stamp  Taxes. — The  law  requires  that  certain 
papers  or  documents  must  have  certain  kinds  of 
stamps  on  them  to  be  good  or  legal.  A  bank  can- 
not pay  a  check  if  there  is  no  stamp  on  it.  A 
promissory  note  is  not  good  without  a  stamp.  A 
written  contract  is  not  binding  unless  it  is  proper- 
ly stamped.  The  government  prints  and  sells 
stamps  for  these  purposes  and  the  proceeds  are 
revenues. 

Some  people  do  not  consider  the  stamps  used 
upon  letters  as  revenue  stamps.  In  fact,  however, 
every  time  you  buy  a  postage  stamp  you  pay 
taxes.  The  money  collected  from  postage  stamps 
is  used  to  pay  the  expenses  of  carrying  the  mail. 
It  is  a  very  clear  example  of  how  the  government 
collects  money  from  the  people  for  services  ren- 
dered to  them. 


68    CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

Industrial  Taxes. — Another  very  important  tax 
in  this  country  is  the  Industrial  Tax.  Many  men 
are  conducting  businesses  or  industries,  earning  a 
great  deal  of  money,  who  do  not  have  much  real 
property  and  accordingly  do  not  pay  much  real 
property  tax.  If  there  were  a  personal  property 
tax  in  this  country  they  would  have  to  pay  a  great 
deal  on  their  personal  property.  But  by  charging 
a  tax  upon  different  professions,  industries  and 
kinds  of  business,  these  men  are  made  to  pay  their 
share. 


PART  II. 

Town,  Provincial  and  Central 
Government. 


CHAPTER  X. 

DIVISIONS  OF   GOVERNMENT. 

Local  Government. — If  our  whole  country  were 
only  a  single  little  town,  one  group  of  officials 
could  easily  conduct  the  whole  government,  be- 
cause they  could  easily  know  the  needs  of  all  the 
people  and  the  needs  of  the  town.  But  such  is  not 
the  case.  Our  country  is  large,  covering  many  is- 
lands, and  in  each  island  the  people  live  in  towns 
that  are  very  far  apart.  It  is  plain  that  each  town 
must  have  a  government  of  its  own.  The  public 
work  that  must  be  done  in  each  town  can  best  be 
done  by  the  people  of  that  town.  People  know  very 
little  about  the  conditions  of  other  towns. 

Do  we  need  a  new  street  or  a  new  road?  Is  our 
school-house  good  enough,  or  do  we  need  another? 

(69) 


70    CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

Are  the  streets  clean?  Are  the  police  good  men? 
Is  the  market  clean  and  healthful?  These  and 
many  other  questions  can  be  answered  only  by 
the  people  of  the  place.  So  the  town  must  have  a 
government  of  its  own.  This  government  is  called 
by  three  different  names,  town  government,  munici- 
pal government,  and  local  government.  "  Local  " 
comes  from  the  Latin  word  locus,  or  place,  and 
means  of  the  place.  In  the  laws  of  the  Philippine 
Islands  a  town  is  officially  called  a  municipal- 
ity. Hence,  in  the  Philippines,  town  government, 
municipal  government  and  local  government  all 
mean  the  same. 

Provincial  Government. — Besides  the  many 
things  that  each  town  can  do  best  for  itself, 
there  are  other  things  that  the  people  of  all  the 
towns  desire  done,  in  which  they  must  help  each 
other.  There  are  main  roads  that  run  from  town  to 
town  which  the  people  of  all  the  towns  use  in  travel 
and  commerce.  There  are  often  robbers  along 
these  roads  whom  all  the  people  want  caught  and 
punished.  For  these  reasons  and  for  some  others, 
as  we  shall  see,  a  number  of  municipalities  are 
grouped  together  in  a  Province.  The  province  also 
contains,  usually,  some  public  lands  that  are  not 
included  in  the  towns.     For  the  province  there  is 


DIVISIONS  OF  GOVERNMENT  71 

a  group  of  officials  called  the  Provincial  Govern- 
ment. 

Central  Government. — Over  all  the  provinces, 
doing  the  things  that  are  important  to  all  the  peo- 
ple of  the  whole  country,  is  another  group  of  offi- 
cials, which  we  shall  call  the  Central  Government. 

Division  of  Duties. — Every  man  in  every  town 
thus  owes  obedience  to  three  governments,  to  the 
municipal  government  of  his  town,  to  the  provin- 
cial government  of  his  province,  and  to  the  central 
government  of  the  country.  These  really  ought 
to  be  called  the  divisions  of  one  government,  but 
the  custom  is  to  speak  of  them  as  three  different 
governments. 

You  may  wonder  how  a  man  can  obey  three  dif- 
ferent governments.  The  reason  is  that  they  are 
doing  different  things.  The  duties  of  each  are 
carefully  stated  in  the  laws.  Each  one  has  its 
share  of  government  and  these  shares  do  not  con- 
flict. 

Which  Shall  we  Study  First? — Now  if  we  ask 
which  one  of  these  three  governments  is  most  im- 
portant to  us  in  our  daily  lives,  what  shall  we 
answer?  The  central  government  is  far  from  us. 
We  seldom  see  any  of  the  central  officials.  In  the 
same  way,  if  the  capital  of  the  province  is  far  away, 


72    CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

we  hear  little  about  the  provincial  government.  Oc- 
casionally we  see  some  of  the  provincial  officials. 

But  every  day  we  see  the  town  officials.  Scarcely 
a  day  passes  that  we  do  not  have  something  to  do 
with  them  or  feel  the  influence  of  the  town  laws. 
This  local  government  is  always  doing  something 
in  which  we  are  greatly  interested.  It  is  the  gov- 
ernment that  is  most  important  to  us  in  our  daily 
lives.     Let  us  study  it  first. 

The  Three  Branches  of  Government. — All  the 
work  of  any  government,  local  or  central,  may  be 
divided  into  three  parts:  the  legislative  work,  the 
judicial  work,  and  the  executive  work.  The  powers 
of  the  government,  or  of  any  official,  are  either 
legislative,  judicial  or  executive.  Now,  if  we  group 
together  all  the  officials  in  the  central  government, 
for  example,  who  have  legislative  powers  or  duties, 
this  group  would  be  tfre  legislative  branch  of  the 
central  government.  In  the  same  way,  the  group 
of  officials  whose  duties  are  judicial  are  the  judicial 
branch,  and  the  group  of  those  whose  duties  are  ex- 
ecutive are  the  executive  branch. 

The  officials  of  a  town  may  be  divided  into  these 
three  groups.  To  legislate  means  to  make  laws. 
The  Councillors,  who  make  the  town  laws,  are  the 
legislative  branch. 


DIVISIONS  OF  GOVERNMENT  73 

The  word  "judicial"  comes  from  the  word 
"judge."  The  duties  of  a  judge  are  the  judicial 
duties.  It  is  one  of  the  chief  duties  of  the  judicial 
branch  of  government  to  interpret  the  laws.  The 
judges  in  a  town  are  the  Justice  of  the  Peace  and 
the  President;  they  are  the  judicial  branch  of  the 
town  government. 

To  execute,  means  simply  to  do,  or  to  have  done. 
The  executive  branch  does,  or  directs  to  be  done, 
what  the  law-makers  and  judges  decide  shall  be 
done.  The  executive  officials  of  a  town  are  the 
President  and  the  police. 

We  shall  see  that  these  three  branches  are  not 
entirely  separate.  They  are  most  nearly  separate 
in  the  central  government.  The  town  President,  for 
example,  has  chiefly  executive  duties,  but  he  has 
also  some  duties  as  a  judge,  and  some  duties  as  a 
law-maker. 

It  is  well  for  us  to  remember  the  meanings  of 
the  names  of  these  three  branches  of  government 
for  these  words  are  often  used  to  describe  the 
powers  and  duties  of  officials. 


CHAPTER  XL 

COMPARISON   OF   LOCAL   GOVERNMENTS   IN    THE    UNITED 
STATES  AND  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES. 

In  the  United  States  the  divisions  of  government 
are  quite  different  from  the  divisions  in  the  Philip- 
pines. The  central  government  of  the  United  States 
is  called  a  federal  government  because  it  is  formed 
by  the  union  of  many  states,  and  because  each  state 
has  surrendered  to  the  central  government  a  part 
of  its  power  to  govern,  which  it  can  never  recall, 
but  each  state  has  kept  the  power  to  govern  in  many 
things  in  which  the  central  government  has  no  right 
to  interfere.  The  system  of  the  federal  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  is  too  complex  to  explain 
in  this  small  book  and,  besides,  it  is  unlike  any- 
thing we  have  in  the  Philippines.  The  central  gov- 
ernment of  the  Philippines  is  something  like  the 
central  government  of  an  American  state,  and  the 
central  governments  of  nearly  all  of  the  forty-five 
states  are  very  much  alike.  In  comparing  our  cen- 
tral government  with  the  government  of  a  state  we 
would  find  many  similarities  and,  of  course,  many 
differences. 

(74) 


LOCAL  GOVERNMENTS  IN  UNITED  STATES  75 

A  Comparison  of  Local  Governments  in  the  Phil- 
ippines and  in  the  United  States  would  be  very 
interesting  and  very  valuable  to  us. 

New  England  Township. — The  early  settlers  of 
New  England  fled  from  England  to  escape  religious 
persecution.  They  desired  to  settle  in  a  country 
where  they  could  establish  their  own  church  and 
worship  God  in  their  own  way.  All  the  members  of 
a  church  congregation  frequently  went  together 
and  settled  in  the  same  place.  The  families  set- 
tled on  farms  near  each  other  in  order  to  attend 
the  same  church  and  near  enough  also  for  pro- 
tection against  the  American  Indians.  The  New 
Englanders  called  their  settlements  towns,  more 
properly  townships.  A  township  included,  usually, 
a  village  and  the  farms  lying  about  it.  The  gov- 
ernment of  the  New  England  township  was  a  pure 
democracy,  that  is,  the  people  governed  themselves 
directly.  Once  a  year  all  the  men  of  the  township 
met  in  the  town-hall  to  elect  their  officers,  to  make 
the  laws  of  the  township  and  to  rate  the  taxes. 
Every  man  could  thus  take  a  direct  part  in  the 
government  of  the  township.  This  form  of  gov- 
ernment, a  pure  democracy,  is  considered  the  best 
kind  of  government,  but  it  is  possible  only  in  small 
communities. 


76    CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

The  Settlement  of  Public  Lands — Western  Town- 
ships.— Before  many  settlements  were  made  west 
of  the  Allegheny  Mountains  the  Continental  Con- 
gress had  decided  upon  a  plan  of  survey  for  the 
public  lands,  which  included  the  unoccupied  lands 
between  the  Allegheny  Mountains  and  the  Missis- 
sippi River,  and  all  the  lands  west  of  the  Mississippi 
which  were  afterwards  acquired  by  the  United 
States.  The  principal  part  of  this  plan  consisted  in 
running  straight  lines  north  and  south,  and  east 
and  west,  dividing  the  land  into  townships.  These 
townships  are,  accordingly,  nearly  the  same  size, 
six  miles  square.  The  New  England  townships  are 
usually  small  and  are  irregular  in  shape  and  size. 

The  government  of  the  United  States  offered  to 
sell  farms  in  the  western  townships,  at  very  low 
prices,  to  settlers  who  were  willing  to  live  on  the 
land  and  cultivate  it.  People  were  glad  to  get 
the  land  and  emigrants  from  the  eastern  and  south- 
ern states  and  from  Europe  bought  farms  and  set- 
tled upon  them.  As  years  went  by  and  one  part 
became  settled  the  people  moved  farther  and  farther 
west. 

Territory — State. — When  a  large  region  became 
well  peopled,  it  was  marked  off  by  boundary  lines 
and  called  a   territory.     When  the  population   of  a 


LOCAL  GOVERNMENTS  IN  UNITED  STATES    77 

territory  became  sufficiently  great,  it  became  a  state 
and  was  admitted  to  the  Union. 

County. — A  territory  or  a  state  was  divided  into 
parts  called  counties.  The  state  of  Indiana,  for  ex- 
ample, which  is  about  equal  in  size  to  the  Island 
of  Luzon,  has  ninety-two  counties  of  an  average 
size  of  four  hundred  square  miles.  The  county  is 
thus  larger  than  a  township;  the  county  contains 
a  number  of  townships. 

The  Country  and  the  Town  or  City. — When  the 
early  settlers  moved  into  a  new  region,  each  man 
built  his  house  on  his  own  farm.  Neighbors  were 
separated  by  the  width  of  their  farms,  at  least,  and 
often  by  unoccupied  lands.  When  a  township  be- 
came well  peopled  a  village  usually  grew  up,  per- 
haps at  the  crossing  of  two  roads,  for  the  people 
wanted  stores,  churches  and  schools.  Some  vil- 
lages which  were  favorably  located  for  trade  or 
commerce  grew  into  towns.  A  town  in  each  county, 
usually  one  near  the  center,  was  made  the  county- 
seat,  where  are  the  offices  of  the  county  officials, 
the  county  court-house,  and  the  county  jail.  When 
people  began  to  pay  more  attention  to  manufac- 
turing and  to  commerce,  some  of  these  towns  grew 
into  cities. 

Now,  in  the  Philippines,  nearly  all  the  people  live 


78    CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

in  villages,  towns  and  cities.  That  is,  if  you  travel 
along  the  highways,  from  one  town  to  another,  you 
see  almost  no  houses  in  the  fields.  Passing  from 
the  barrios  of  one  town  you  see  scarcely  a  house 
until  you  reach  the  barrios  of  another  town.  To 
make  the  point  very  clear  we  must  use  the  expres- 
sion the  country,  which  simply  means  the  lands 
outside  of  the  towns  and  cities.  We  observe,  then, 
that  few  people  in  the  Philippines  live  in  the  country. 

In  America  it  is  very  different,  the  traveler  along 
the  highways,  especially  of  the  well  settled  states, 
passes  a  farm  house  every  few  minutes,  for  the 
farmers  live  on  their  farms.  There  are  many  roads 
running  in  all  directions  over  the  townships  and 
counties  so  that  the  farmers  can  get  to  the  villages 
and  towns,  where  they  do  their  buying  and  selling. 
The  farmers  often  have  handsome  houses  and  are 
as  well-to-do  as  are  most  of  the  people  of  the 
towns  and  cities. 

You  will  understand,  then,  that  the  population 
of  the  United  States  is  part  urban  and  part  rural; 
a  part  lives  in  the  cities  or  towns;  a  part  lives  in 
the  country. 

County  Government — Representative  Govern- 
ment.— On  account  of  these  different  manners  of 
living,  the  people  have  established  three  different 


LOCAL  GOVERNMENTS  IN  UNITED  STATES    79 

kinds  of  local  government:  township  government, 
county  government  and  town  or  city  government. 
We  have  already  described  the  township  govern- 
ment of  New  England ;  in  New  England  the  county 
government  has  almost  no  power  at  all  because  the 
township  governments  do  almost  everything.  But 
in  the  western  and  southern  states,  the  county  gov- 
ernment is  made  far  more  important  and  the  town- 
ship governments  are  given  less  power. 

Now  the  number  of  the  people  in  a  county  is 
usually  too  large  for  the  people  all  to  assemble 
in  one  place  to  decide  what  roads  and  bridges  shall 
be  built,  how  much  taxes  they  shall  pay,  etc.  Be- 
sides some  of  the  people  live  several  miles  from 
the  county-seat.  Accordingly  it  is  impossible  to 
have  the  kind  of  government  in  the  county  that 
we  find  in  the  New  England  township,  that  is,  gov- 
ernment by  the  people  directly.  Instead,  in  the 
county  we  find  government  by  the  people  indirectly, 
or  representative  government.  Instead  of  assem- 
bling themselves,  the  people  select  a  few  of  their 
number  to  meet  in  the  county-seat  to  act  for  them. 
These  few  who  assemble  are  called  representatives 
of  the  people,  those  who  act  for  or  speak  for  the 
people.  Representatives  are  chosen  only  for  a  short 
time  and  if  they  do  not  obey  the  wishes  of  the 


80    CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

people  who  choose  them,  others  may  be  chosen  in 
tfreir  places.  It  is  in  this  way  that  the  people  really 
have  control  in  a  representative  government. 

Incorporated  Towns  and  Cities. — The  people  of 
a  town  or  city  that  grew  up  in  a  county  found  that 
they  wanted  to  do  many  things  which  the  people 
living  scattered  over  the  county  had  no  interest  in. 
The  people  of  the  town  or  city  wanted  good  streets 
in  front  of  their  houses,  and  lights  in  the  streets, 
police  to  guard  their  stores  and  houses  and  many 
other  services  which  it  would  not  be  right  to  ask 
the  people  of  the  country  to  help  pay  for.  The 
people  of  the  town  or  city  needed  a  separate  gov- 
ernment which  could  do  what  they  wanted  done 
and  which  could  collect  from  them  alone  the  taxes 
needed.  The  states,  therefore,  passed  laws  to  give 
the  people  the  right  to  draw  lines  about  the  towns, 
to  establish  separate  governments  in  them  and 
called  them  incorporated  tozvns  or  cities.  A  city  ia 
larger  than  a  town  and  its  government  usually  has 
more  power.  Corpus  is  a  Latin  word  meaning  body. 
To  incorporate  means  to  make  into  one  body,  or  to 
give  to  a  group  of  people,  or  a  group  of  officials 
the  power  to  hold  property  and  to  sue  or  be  sued 
in  a  court  like  an  individual.    The  line  marking  the 


LOCAL  GOVERNMENTS  IN  UNITED  STATES    81 

limits  of  a  town  or  city  is  called  the  corporation  line. 
All  inside  is  the  city. 

Now,  a  town  or  city  may  be  thought  of  as  a  col- 
lection of  buildings  (dwellings,  stores,  factories, 
mills,  schools,  churches  and  other  buildings,  with  the 
land  upon  which  they  are  built).  The  corporation 
line  is  an  imaginary  line  surveyed,  in  the  United 
States,  close  around  this  collection  of  houses  so  that 
it  excludes  the  farming  land.  It  separates  the  town 
from  the  country.  It  does  not,  however,  take  the 
people  out  from  under  the  township  and  county 
governments.  A  man  living  in  a  town  belongs  also 
under  the  government  of  the  township  in  which 
he  lives  and  under  the  government  of  his  county. 
You  must  remember  that  a  government  is  simply 
a  group  of  public  servants  who  are  employed  to 
render  public  services  and  to  do  public  work.  Thus, 
the  people  of  a  city  have  three  groups  of  local  public 
servants,  the  city,  township  and  county  govern- 
ments; while  the  people  of  the  country,  because 
they  need  less  service  and  want  less  public  work, 
have  only  the  two  groups  of  local  public  servants: 
the  township  and  county  governments. 

In  the  Philippines. — Often  when  we  meet  a  friend 
in  a  barrio,  we  ask,  "Where  are  you  going?"  He 
replies,  in  his  native  language,  perhaps,  "  To  town." 


82    CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

He  means  to  the  central  part  of  the  town,  where 
are  usually  the  large  stores  and  the  public  build- 
ings. This  same  expression  is  in  common  use  in 
the  towns  or  cities  of  the  United  States  to  dis- 
tinguish the  business  part  from  the  residence  part 
of  the  town  or  city.  When  we  use  the  word  "  town  " 
in  this  sense,  we  use  it  differently  from  the  meaning 
which  the  law  gives  it.  Legally,  a  town  in  the 
Philippines  is  not  only  this  central  part,  but  it  in- 
cludes all  the  barrios  and  a  great  deal  of  farming 
land  about  them.  So  that  a  man  may  be  working 
in  a  field  two  or  three  miles  from  the  center  of  the 
town,  and  far  from  any  house,  yet  he  may  be  in  the 
town.  He  may  be  inside  the  corporation  line,  for 
the  corporation  line  is  drawn  around  a  wide  extent 
of  country. 

Our  town  is  different  from  a  township  or  county, 
however,  because  our  people  rarely  live  scattered 
over  the  country.  Nearly  all  the  farmers,  like  the 
other  inhabitants,  have  their  houses  in  the  central 
part  of  the  town  and  go  out  to  their  work  in  the 
fields. 

On  the  other  hand,  our  town,  for  the  purposes  of 
government,  resembles  the  American  town  or  city 
for,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  our  town  includes  some 
fields  and  farming  land  about  it,  the  principal  fact 


LOCAL  GOVERNMENTS  IN  UNITED  STATES    83 

about  any  town,  in  any  part  of  the  world,  is  that 
it  consists  of  a  great  many  people  living  close  to- 
gether in  a  small  area.  The  needs  of  our  people 
living  in  towns  are  about  the  same  as  the  needs 
of  people  living  in  towns  anywhere.  Consequently 
we  find  that  town  and  city  governments  are  very 
nearly  the  same  everywhere. 

We  would  find,  then,  that  our  town  government 
resembles  the  town  and  city  governments  of  the 
United  States.  The  duties  and  powers  are  about 
the  same,  except  that  the  Philippine  towns  have  the 
added  responsibility  of  protecting  laborers  and  prop- 
erty in  the  fields  inside  their  corporation  lines. 

In  view  of  these  facts,  students  who  wish  to  read 
more  about  the  forms  of  government  in  other  coun- 
tries, which  are  most  like  their  own,  will  read  books 
about  municipal  government,  or  the  government  of 
incorporated  towns  or  cities. 


/ 

CHAPTER  XII. 

THE     HISTORY     OF     PHILIPPINE     TOWN      GOVERNMENT. 

Origin. — The  Philippine  town  had  an  origin  very 
different  from  either  the  origin  of  the  New  England 
township  or  the  origin  of  the  western  township  of 
the  United  States.  The  Malay  race,  to  which  nearly 
all  Filipinos  belong,  has  always  been  a  race  of  sail- 
ors. They  inhabited  the  islands  or  the  coast  of  the 
sea  and  in  earlier  times  lived  more  upon  the  water 
than  they  do  now.  They  had  large  boats  which  car- 
ried 50  to  100  persons.  These  were  sail  boats  and 
were  very  swift.  They  were  called  in  the  Malay 
language  balangay.  The  people  were  great  wander- 
ers and  traveled  from  island  to  island.  Usually  one 
family  traveled  in  each  balangay.  There  was  the  old 
man,  his  children  and  their  children,  and  all  their 
servants  and  slaves.  This  old  man  was  the  captain 
of  the  balangay.  He  was,  like  the  patriarch  of  Bible 
times,  the  head  and  ruler  of  the  family. 

The  Malays  who  came  to  settle  in  these  island? 
are  supposed  to  have  lived  in  the  Island  of  Sumatra 
from  where  they  wandered  to  their  final  home  here. 

Where  they  landed  in  these  islands  and  drove  the 

(84) 


PHILIPPINE  TOWN  GOVERNMENT  85 

little  black  people,  whom  they  found  already  here, 
into  the  mountains,  they  selected  their  homes  and 
the  group  of  people  which  came  in  each  balangay 
built  their  houses  together  and  formed  a  little  vil- 
lage. In  time  this  group  of  people  came  to  be 
called  a  balangay  also. 

The  head  man  was  called  datu,  which  in  the 
Malay  language  means  "  grandfather."  The  head 
men  were  captains  in  the  wars,  governed  the  peo- 
ple and  were  obeyed  and  respected. 

Often  several  balangay  settled  together  in  a  large 
village  and  helped  each  other  in  their  wars,  form- 
ing alliances  for  short  periods. 

There  was  no  union  of  all  the  inhabitants  nor  of 
all  the  people  in  a  tribe.  Sometimes  a  strong  man 
collected  many  balangay  under  his  command,  as 
did  Rajah  Soliman  whom  the  Spaniards  found  rul- 
ing in  Maynila,  when  they  first  came.  The  people 
lived  a  very  simple  life,  fishing,  hunting,  fighting 
and  farming  a  little,  with  a  form  of  government 
very  simple  indeed,  in  many  ways  like  the  gov- 
ernments of  all  primitive  people. 

Spanish  Occupation. — When  the  Spaniards  came, 
they  made  very  little  change  at  first.  They  had 
towns  in  Spain,  so  they  called  each  large  village 
a  pueblo   or   town  and   the   part   occupied  by   each 


86    CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

balangay,  they  called  a  barrio,  which  is  in  English 
ward,  a  division  of  a  city. 

They  made  the  head  of  each  balangay  a  tax  col- 
lector and  preserved  the  old  word  in  a  Spanish 
form,  for  the  tax  collector  was  called  the  Cabeza 
de  Barangay. 

As  fast  as  the  islands  were  conquered  they  were 
divided  and  over  each  division  was  placed  a  ruler 
called  an  encomendero.  He  was  Governor,  Judge 
and  the  chief  collector  of  tribute.  The  men  were 
enrolled  by  name  and  an  annual  tribute  was  collect- 
ed as  taxes.  The  tribute  was  10  reales  for  every 
man.  A  part  of  the  tribute  collected  was  paid  to 
the  church,  a  part  to  the  Spanish  army  and  the  re- 
mainder was  paid  into  the  Royal  Treasury. 

Alcaldes. — After  a  time  the  provinces  were 
marked  out  and  an  Alcalde  appointed  as  a  Judge  and 
Governor  in  each.  He  received  a  very  small  salary, 
but  he  often  made  a  great  deal  of  money.  The 
tribute  was  often  paid  in  rice.  The  Alcalde  re- 
ceived the  rice  from  the  people  at  a  very  low  price 
and  by  charging  the  real  value  for  the  portion 
which  he  sent  to  the  Royal  Stores  to  pay  the  trib- 
ute, he  could  keep  a  large  portion  for  himself.  The 
money  for  which  he  sold  this  portion  of  the  rice 
went  into  his  own  pocket.     The  things  which  we 


PHILIPPINE  TOWN  GOVERNMENT  87 

have  learned  governments  ought  to  do  for  the  peo- 
ple were  not  done. 

Not  for  the  People. — This  early  government  was 
not  for  the  people.  It  was  chiefly  for  the  purpose 
of  collecting  tribute.  Spain  was  ambitious  in  those 
times  to  be  the  ruler  of  a  great  empire  and  to 
have  many  subjects,  who  acknowledged  their  al- 
legiance by  paying  tribute. 

Gobernadorcillos. — In  later  times,  petty  Govern- 
ors were  appointed  to  rule  each  town.  These  were 
called  Gobernadorcillos.  They  were  Filipinos.  All 
of  the  Governors  of  the  provinces  were  Spaniards. 
The  little  governors  were  simply  agents  or  tools 
of  the  big  governors,  who  really  ruled  all  the  towns 
in  their  provinces.  Forty  days'  labor  on  the  roads 
was  required  from  each  man;  later  this  was  re- 
duced to  15  days.  If  a  man  did  not  care  to  work 
he  could  pay  $3.00  a  year  in  addition  to  the  tribute. 
The  rulers  preferred  to  have  people  pay  rather 
than  work.  The  local  government  had  very  little 
money  to  buy  materials  for  public  work,  for  nearly 
all  the  taxes  were  paid  to  the  central  government, 
and  so  the  labor  could  not  be  used  to  advantage. 

These  very  rude  forms  of  government  continued 
nearly  three  centuries.  In  fact  it  was  not  till  1886 
that  Judges  were  appointed  in  the  provinces.    Be- 


88    CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

fore  that  year  the  Alcalde  was  both  Judge  and 
Governor  and  had  all  the  power  in  his  hands.  He 
was  above  the  law.  In  1886  Governors  were  ap- 
pointed in  eighteen  provinces  and  the  Alcaldes  were 
given  only  the  duties  of  Judges. 

Spanish  Municipios. — In  1893  the  form  of  town 
government  was  changed.  The  plan  adopted  in 
that  year  was  called  the  Maura  Law,  from  the 
name  of  the  Spanish  Minister  who  proposed  it. 
Maura  saw  how  much  the  local  government  needed 
reform  and  he  tried  to  reform  it.  But,  although  the 
reformed  system  was  far  better  than  the  old,  it  did 
not  give  the  people  of  the  towns  as  much  power 
and  freedom  in  their  local  government  as  does  the 
present  system,  which  we  shall  study  in  the  follow- 
ing chapters.  Moreover,  it  was  a  very  different 
kind  of  government  from  our  present  one.  The 
power  to  choose  the  officials  of  the  town  was  lim- 
ited to  a  very  small  class  of  citizens,  called  the 
principalia.  The  principalia  was  the  group  of  prin- 
cipales.  A  principal  was  a  man  who  had  been 
cabeza  de  barangay  a  number  of  years,  a  capitan- 
municipal,  or  a  lieutenant,  or  who  paid  $50  annual 
land-taxes.  These  few  men  were  the  only  people  of 
the  town  who  had  the  right  to  vote.  They  were 
the  governing  class  of  the  town,  and  all  the  others, 


PHILIPPINE  TOWN  GOVERNMENT  89 

by  far  the  larger  number,  had  no  part  in  the  gov- 
ernment. No  matter  how  intelligent  a  man  might 
be,  he  could  not  help  in  the  government  unless  he 
had  been  one  of  the  officials  named  or  unless  he 
paid  $50  annual  land-taxes.  Such  a  government  is 
caled  an  oligarchy,  or  a  government  by  a  few. 

But  even  the  principalia  did  not  themselves  elect 
the  town  officials.  They  chose  twelve  men  of  their 
number,  who  were  called  delegates,  and  these  dele- 
gates chose  the  officials.  The  officials  were  a  cap- 
itan-municipal  and  four  lieutenants.  These  five 
officials  were  called  collectively  the  tribunal.  They 
had  charge  of  all  public  work  and  the  collection  of 
taxes.  Some  things  could  be  decided  upon  by  the 
five  officials  of  the  tribunal  alone;  sometimes  the 
twelve  delegates  of  the  principalia  met  with  them; 
but  the  capitan  always  had  the  power  to  refuse  to 
do  what  his  counsellors  had  decided  upon.  In  this 
way  an  ambitious  capitan  could  become  the  real 
ruler  of  the  town  and  a  wicked  capitan  could  abuse 
his  power  to  oppress  the  people  or  to  enrich  him- 
self. 

The  cabezas  de  barangay  were  important  officials. 
They  were  the  head-men  of  the  barangayes,  each  of 
which  consisted  of  one  hundred  or  one  hundred  and 
fifty  families.     Their  chief  duties  were  to  collect 


90       CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

the  taxes  from  the  people  under  them,  to  make  the 
lists  of  the  people  of  their  barangayes  who  were  to 
work  fifteen  days  each  year  on  the  public  works, 
and  to  classify  the  people  acording  to  their  occupa- 
tions to  determine  how  much  they  should  pay  for 
their  cedulas.  (See  Ch.  IX.)  To  select  a  cabeza  de 
barangay  the  five  officials  of  the  tribunal  and  the 
delegates  of  the  principalia  made  a  list  of  three 
names,  which  was  presented  to  the  governor  of  the 
province,  who  appointed  one  from  the  list. 

A  great  evil  of  the  town  governments  in  Spanish 
times  was  the  interference  of  the  Spanish  curate,  or 
parish  priest.  The  Spanish  friar,  who  acted  as  cu- 
rate, was  made  a  part  of  the  town  government  by 
law,  and  nothing  important  could  be  done  without 
his  consent. 

The  New  Town  Government — We  come  now 
to  study  in  detail  the  new  government  that  was 
established  in  the  towns  in  the  years  1900  and 
1901.  It  is  a  government  by  the  people  of  the  town. 
It  opens  the  power  to  govern  to  all  the  people  by 
providing  that  every  man  who  learns  to  read  and 
write  may  vote.  Getting  the  right  to  help  govern 
depends  upon  each  man  himself  and  not  upon  the 
choice  of  a  few  rulers  of  the  town.  When  all  the 
people  become  educated  it  will  be  a  government 


UNIVERSITY    J 

or  J 

PHILIPPINE  TOWN  GOVERNMENT  91 

by  all  the  people.  It  is  representative  in  form.  The 
people  do  not  govern  directly,  but  they  have  the 
power  to  control  the  government,  for  they  choose 
the  men  who  act  as  representatives  to  make  the 
town  laws. 

The  new  plan  also  provides  that  a  large  part  of  the 
taxes  collected  are  kept  by  the  people  of  the  town 
to  be  spent  by  them  for  public  work  in  the  town. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE   NEW   TOWN-GOVERNMENT. 

Municipal  Code. — We  have  seen  that  the  gov- 
ernment of  an  "  incorporated  town "  or  city 
in  the  United  States  is  created  by  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  state  in  which  the  town  or  city  is 
located.  Sometimes  the  central  government  of  the 
state  makes  a  special  law  to  establish  a  peculiar 
form  of  government  in  some  very  large  city,  but 
the  form  of  government  of  nearly  all  the  cities  is 
outlined  in  one  law,  called  a  general  law,  that  is, 
a  law  for  all.  In  the  Philippines,  Manila  has  a 
government  different  from  the  other  towns.  All 
the  others  have  one  kind  of  government.  They  are 
all  established  by  a  general  law  of  the  central  gov- 
ernment, called  the  Municipal  Code. 

A  code  simply  means  a  collection  of  laws.  The 
Municipal  Code  is  all  the  laws  establishing  and 
outlining  town  government  printed  together  for 
convenience.  The  Municipal  Code  gives  only  an 
outline  of  the  government  of  the  town.  It  does 
not  make  one-half  of  the  laws  of  the  town,  indeed, 
it  makes  much  less  than  half.     It  tells  how  many 

(92) 


THE  NEW  TOWN-GOVERNMENT  93 

and  what  officials  a  town  shall  have,  what  are  their 
powers  and  duties  and  how  they  shall  be  elected. 
It  tells  what  taxes  shall  be  collected.  It  also  tells 
what  kind  of  laws  the  municipal  government  may 
make. 

The  Municipal  Code  is  like  a  book  which  tells 
how  to  make  a  watch  to  have  it  run  well;  a  book 
which  says  that  the  watch  must  have  a  main- 
spring, a  balance-wheel,  a  hair-spring,  a  face  and 
hands.  If  we  were  to  try  to  make  a  watch  from 
this  description,  we  should  find  that  there  were 
many  other  parts  to  make,  and  that  all  of  these 
parts  must  be  nicely  fitted  together.  When  the 
watch  is  finished  it  is  wound  up  and  it  runs.  Now, 
who  is  it  that  makes  these  other  p^rts,  puts  together 
and  winds  up  the  government  of  the  town?  It  is  the 
people  of  the  town.  It  would  be  impossible  for  the 
Municipal  Code  to  contain  all  the  laws  for  the  town 
and,  besides,  we  have  learned  that  local  govern- 
ment is  the  best  government*.  So  the  greater  part 
of  the  government  of  the  town  is  left  to  the  people 
themselves,  or  to  those  who  are  qualified  to  do  it. 

There  is  this  difference  between  a  watch  and  a 
government.  The  wheels  and  springs  of  govern- 
ment are  living  beings.  They  are  the  officials  and 
are  selected  from  among  the  people  of  the  town. 


X 


94    CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

Some  of  the  people  of  the  town  are  the  govern- 
ment of  the  town. 

Town  Officials. — First  among  the  officials  is  the 
President  of  the  town,  who  has  many  duties.  He 
commands  the  police,  acts  as  a  Judge  and  directs 
the  public  work.  Of  course  the  duty  of  the  police 
is  to  keep  order  in  the  town.  The  Justice  of  the 
Peace  has  the  duty  of  protecting  our  rights  and 
punishing  criminals.  The  Municipal  Treasurer  col- 
lects some  of  the  taxes  and  keeps  the  money  of  the 
town.  The  Vice-President  takes  the  place  of  the 
President,  if  the  latter  dies  in  office,  is  sick  or  away. 
When  he  is  not  acting  as  President,  he  is  a  Coun- 
cillor. The  Municipal  Secretary  is  the  secretary 
of  the  council  meetings.  He  keeps  a  record  of 
births,  deaths  and  marriages.  He  has  also  other 
important  duties.  The  Councillors  are  the  law- 
makers of  the  town. 

The  Council. — The  Council  is  the  group  of  men 
who  meet  in  the  town  hall  to  make  the  laws  of  the 
town.  They  are  the  real  government  of  the  town 
because  they  have  the  most  power. 

The  Number  of  Councillors. — The  number  of 
Councillors  varies  according  to  the  size  of  the  town. 
There  are  four  classes  of  towns,  or  municipalities. 
Those  which  have  25,000  or  more  inhabitants  have 


THE  NEW  TOWN-GOVERNMENT  95 

eighteen  Councillors.  Those  which  have  between 
18,000  and  25,000  inhabitants  have  fourteen  Coun- 
cillors. Those  which  have  between  10,000  and  18,- 
000  inhabitants  have  ten  Councillors.  Those  which 
have  less  than  10,000  inhabitants  have  eight  Coun- 
cillors. 

The  outline  of  government  in  the  Municipal  Code 
is  the  same  for  towns  of  all  classes  with  this  one 
difference  in  the  number  of  Councillors. 

The  Vice-President,  as  is  said  above,  is  also  a 
Councillor  unless  he  is  taking  the  place  of  the 
President.  Ordinarily,  then,  we  must  add  one  to 
each  of  the  numbers  given  above  to  get  the  real 
number  of  Councillors.  How  many  Councillors  has 
your  town? 

The  Council  Meeting. — The  Councillors  meet  in 
the  town  hall  once  in  every  two  weeks  and  more 
often — if  there  is  any  special  business.  The  meet- 
ings are  public  and  anyone  may  attend  if  he  ob- 
serves good  conduct  and  does  not  disturb  the  meet- 
ing. Let  us  see  what  goes  on  at  a  council-meet- 
ing. 

The  meeting  is  held  in  a  large  room.  In  the 
center  at  one  end  is  the  desk  and  chair  of  the 
President.  The  word  President  means  the  man 
who  presides,  or  sits  at  the  head  of  a  Council  or  a 


96    CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

meeting.  That  was  the  old  meaning.  It  is  now 
used  to  mean  this  and  sometimes  a  little  more,  as 
the  chief  official  of  a  town.  In  the  United  States, 
the  highest  official  of  the  country  is  called  the 
President  of  the  United  States.  The  President  of 
a  town  is  the  highest  official  of  a  town,  but  in  the 
council-meeting,  he  only  presides.  We  shall  soon 
see  better  what  this  means. 

In  front  of  the  President  are  seated  the  Council- 
lors, facing  him,  or  on  two  sides  facing  each  other. 
There  is  also  another  official  present.  He  is  a 
very  important  one.  It  is  the  Municipal  Secretary. 
He  keeps  a  record  of  everything  that  the  Council 
does  during  the  meeting. 

When  the  hour  comes  for  the  meeting  to  begin, 
the  President  raps  on  his  table  and  says:  "The 
Council  will  please  come  to  order."  Everybody 
becomes  quiet.  If  the  Councillors  are  not  already 
in  their  places  they  will  take  them.  The  Secretary 
calls  the  roll.  If  more  than  half  of  the  Councillors 
are  present,  the  meeting  may  go  on;  if  not,  those 
who  are  present  can  do  nothing  but  pass  a  rule 
or  an  order  to  compel  the  others  to  attend.  When 
there  are  less  than  half  present,  it  is  said  that  there 
is  no  quorum.  A  quorum  means  enough  members 
to  do  business  according  to  law.    There  is  almost 


THE  NEW  TOWN-GOVERNMENT  9* 

always  a  quorum. present  and  usually  all  the  mem- 
bers attend  because  it  is  their  duty  to  do  so. 

When  it  is  found  that  there  is  a  quorum  present, 
the  Council  takes  up  some  matter  of  town  business. 
Let  us  suppose  that  the  business  of  this  meeting 
is  about  building  a  new  street.  One  of  the  Coun- 
cillors stands  up  and  addresses  the  chair.  He 
says,  "  Mr.  President."  The  President  replies,  "  Mr. 
A,"  calling  him  by  name.  In  this  way  Mr.  A  gets 
permission  to  speak.  Mr.  A  then  says,  "  Mr.  Presi- 
dent, I  desire  to  present  the  following  resolution :  " 

"  Resolved  by  the  Municipal  Council  of  the  Muni- 
cipality of  X  that  a  street  be  built "  (Here  the  ex- 
act location  of  the  street  is  given,  the  grading  and 
kind  of  material,  etc.)  "and  the  sum  of  $1,000  is 
hereby  appropriated  from  the  Municipal  Treasury 
to  pay  the  cost  thereof." 

Perhaps  Mr.  A  reads  the  resolution;   sometimes 
the  Secretary  does  so.     When  the  reading  is  fin- 
ished, Mr.  A  adds,  "I  move  that  the  resolution  be. 
adopted." 

Mr.  B,  another  Councillor,  immediately  rises  and 
says,  "  Mr.  President." 

The  President  gives  him  permission  to  speak  by 
addressing  him,  "  Mr.  B." 

Mr.  B  then  says,  "  I  second  the  motion." 


98    CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

The  President  then  says,  to  the  Council,  "  You 
have  heard  the  reading  of  the  resolution.  A  motion 
has  been  made  and  seconded  for  its  adoption. 
The  question  is  open  for  discussion." 

All  this  form  or  something  like  it  is  necessary  to 
get  the  question  clearly  before  the  Council,  in  order 
that  business  may  be  done  in  an  orderly  manner. 

Mr.  A  now  rises  and  gives  the  Council  reasons 
why  the  street  is  necessary,  convenient  and  a  bene- 
fit to  the  town.  He  will  also  discuss  the  material 
and  construction.  Perhaps  he  will  discuss  the  con- 
dition of  the  Treasury  to  show  that  there  is  sufficient 
money  to  build  the  street.  He  talks  to  the  point. 
Councillors  usually  say  in  a  few  words  the  plain 
facts  and  do  not  waste  words  trying  to  make  fine 
orations. 

Mr.  C,  who  is  opposed  to  building  the  street, 
rises,  addresses  the  President,  is  recognized,  and 
says,  "  Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Coun- 
cil, it  does  not  seem  wise  to  me  to  build  this  street 
at  this  time."    He  continues  to  state  his  reasons. 

Sometimes  every  Councillor  speaks,  more  than 
once,  perhaps,  and  even  then  the  question  is  left 
over  for  another  meeting.  In  nearly  all  important 
questions  like  this  one  the  decision  is  left  to  another 
meeting  to  give  the  Councillors  time  to  think  and  to 


THE  NEW  TOWN-GOVERNMENT  99 

hear  what  their  neighbors  think  about  it.  Other 
men  who  are  not  Councillors  may  get  permission  to 
speak  to  the  Council  or  the  Council  may  ask  them 
to  do  so.  Solomon  said :  "  In  the  multitude  of  coun- 
sellors there  is  safety.,, 

When  at  last  all  the  discussion  is  over,  the  Presi- 
dent asks  the  Council, 

"Are  you  ready  for  the  question ?" 

The  President  then  orders  the  Secretary  to  read 
the  resolution  again.     The  President  then  says, 

"  All  in  favor  of  the  motion  may  signify  it  by 
saying,  '  aye.' " 

The  Councillors  who  favor  the  resolution  respond, 
"  aye." 

The  President  continues,  "  Those  opposed, 
1  nay.' "  The  Councillors  who  are  against  the  reso- 
lution respond,  "  nay." 

The  President  then  announces  whether  there  are 
more  who  favor  or  more  who  oppose  the  resolution. 
He  makes  the  announcement  thus, 

"  The  '  ayes '  have  it  and  the  motion  is  carried." 
Or, 

"  The  ■  nays '  have  it  and  the  motion  is  lost." 

If  any  member  is  not  satisfied  with  the  President's 
announcement  he  may  demand  that  the  roll  be 
called.    The  Secretary  calls  the  roll  and  when  his 


100  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

name  is  called  each  Councillor  responds,  "  aye "  or 
"  nay,"  and  his  vote  is  recorded  after  his  name  in  the 
Journal  of  the  Council.  In  this  way  the  vote  is  de- 
cided exactly.  Besides,  this  Journal  is  public  and 
the  people  may  see  in  it  whom  to  praise  or  blame 
for  passing  or  defeating  the  resolution. 

Ordinarily  what  we  have  seen  is  the  way  town 
laws  are  made.  A  resolution  is  presented  by  a 
Councillor,  containing  some  proposition  for  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  town.  The  resolution  is  discussed 
and  voted  upon.  If  a  majority  vote  in  favor  of 
the  resolution,  it  passes,  or  becomes  law,  and  is 
called  an  ordinance.  Municipal  laws  are  called  or- 
dinances. Ordinarily,  a  majority  of  the  Council  is 
sufficient  to  make  municipal  ordinances.  The  Pres- 
ident, ordinarily,  has  no  part  in  making  the  decis- 
ions.    But  sometimes  he  does  take  a  part. 

The  President's  Part  in  Law-making,  (i)  Tie. — 
Whenever  there  is  a  tie-vote,  that  is,  when  the 
number  of  "  ayes  "  and  "  nays  "  are  equal,  the  Presi- 
dent may  vote  to  decide.  This  is  the  only  time 
that  he  has  a  right  to  vote. 

(2)  Veto. — After  a  resolution  has  been  passed 
by  a  majority  of  the  Council,  before  it  becomes  law, 
the  President  may  approve  it  or  veto  it.  If  he  ap- 
proves it,  he  signs  his  name  to  it.     If,  however, 


THE  NEW  TOWN-GOVERNMENT  101 

he  thinks  that  it  is  against  the  public  welfare,  he 
may  object  to  it  and  state  his  objections  to  the  Coun- 
cil. This  is  called  "  vetoing  "  the  resolution.  Veto 
is  a  Latin  word  which  means  I  forbid.  Yet  the 
veto  does  not  prevent  the  ordinance  passing,  provid- 
ed two-thirds  of  all  the  Councillors  think  that  it  is 
a  good  one.  For,  after  the  veto,  the  Council  votes 
again  and  if  two-thirds  of  all  the  Councillors  answer 
"  aye,"  the  ordinance  passes  in  spite  of  the  veto. 

The  good  of  the  veto  is  that  it  causes  the  Coun- 
cillors to  think  very  seriously  about  the  question 
and  to  be  very  sure  that  it  is  right  before  they 
pass  it.  If  it  is  doubtful  it  will  surely  fail  because 
two-thirds  will  not  favor  it. 

If  the  President  neither  signs  nor  vetoes  an  or- 
dinance within  five  days  after  its  passage  it  becomes 
a  law  without  his  signature. 

Duties  of  the  Council. — We  now  see  what  is 
meant  by  saying  that  the  Council  makes  the  laws  of 
the  town.  We  have  learned  that  law-making  is  the 
method  of  government.  The  law-makers  in  any 
government  are  the  real  rulers. 

Let  us  now  see  what  kind  of  laws,  or  ordinances, 
the  Municipal  Council  can  make.  Here  is  a  long 
list  of  things  that  the  Council  must  make  ordinances 
about  in  order  to  have  them  done.    The  Municipal 


102  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

Code  gives  the  Council  power  and  says  that  it  must 
make  ordinances: 

(i)  To  establish,  maintain  and  regulate  a  police 
department. 

(2)  To  establish  and  maintain  primary  schools. 

(3)  To  build  and  repair  streets. 

(4)  To  erect  all  necessary  public  buildings. 

(5)  To  build  and  repair  bridges. 

(6)  To  provide  for  lighting  the  streets. 

(7)  To  have  the  houses  and  lots  numbered. 

(8)  To  keep  the  town  clean  and  healthful,  (a) 
by  cleaning  the  streets;  (b)  by  making  laws  to 
punish  people  who  throw  filth  and  garbage  into  the 
streets ;  (c)  by  ordering  owners  and  tenants  to  clean 
dirty  houses  and  lots.  If  owners  or  tenants  do  not 
do  so,  the  Council  may  have  the  cleaning  done  and 
make  the  owner  or  tenant  pay  for  it. 

(9)  To  make  rules  for  inspecting  all  kinds  of 
food  offered  for  sale. 

(id)  To  prohibit  and  punish  intoxication,  fight- 
ing and  other  disorderly  conduct. 

(11)     To  levy  taxes. 

These  are  eleven  very  important  things  that  the 
Council  may  and  must  do.  There  are  many  others, 
which  may  be  found  in  Chapter  IV.  of  the  Munici- 
pal Code. 


THE  NEW  TOWN-GOVERNMENT.  103 

In  order  to  compel  the  people  to  obey  the  or- 
dinances the  Council  fixes  penalties  to  punish 
those  who  disobey.  There  are  two  kinds  of  pen- 
alties, fines  and  imprisonment.  The  highest  fine 
that  the  Council  may  fix  is  200  pesos.  The  longest 
imprisonment  is  for  six  months.  A  penalty  may  be 
both  fine  and  imprisonment. 

We  now  understand  what  great  powers  the  Coun- 
cil has. 

The  President  as  Chief  Executive. — We  also  see 
what  a  mistaken  idea  some  people  have  who  think 
that  the  President  is  a  kind  of  despotic  king  who 
rules  the  town.  The  President  of  a  town  does  not 
want  people  to  think  him  a  despot,  because  he  is 
not  one.  He  has  a  high  office  and  people  will  re- 
spect him.  A  despot  is  a  ruler  who  orders  done 
whatever  pleases  him.  The  President  may  do  only 
what  the  law  directs  or  permits  him  to  do. 

The  President  is  called  the  chief  executive  of  the 
municipality.  To  execute  means  "to  have  done." 
To  execute  a  law  means  to  do  what  the  law  orders 
done  or  see  that  the  persons  named  in  the  law  do 
it.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  chief  executive  to  see  that 
things  are  done  as  the  laws  order.  This  is  called 
enforcing  the  laws.  Usually  all  the  people  obey 
and  everything  is  done  quietly  and  orderly  and  the 


104  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

President  does  not  use  force.  Yet  if  he  has  to  use 
force,  he  has  command  of  the  police  for  this  pur- 
pose. In  fact,  the  police  are  constantly  going  about 
to  see  if  the  laws  are  obeyed.  If  any  man  violates 
a  city  ordinance,  the  police  arrest  him  and  bring 
him  before  the  President.  The  President  then  acts 
as  a  Judge. 

The  President  as  a  Judge. — The  President  holds 
a  court  to  try  violations  of  municipal  ordinances. 
The  President  may  order  an  arrest;  the  policemen 
may  arrest  if  they  see  or  suspect  that  wrong  is 
being  done;  or  a  private  citizen  may  complain 
against  a  wrongdoer  and  have  him  arrested.  The 
trial  is  very  simple.  The  charge  or  accusation  is 
read  to  the  accused.  He  pleads  guilty  or  not 
guilty.  The  accused  has  the  right  to  bring  his 
witnesses  and  the  President  may  summon  others. 
After  hearing  the  witnesses,  if  the  President  finds 
the  accused  guilty,  he  may  punish  him  according  to 
the  penalties  fixed  by  the  Council. 

This  trial  is  simple  because  it  is  final  only  in 
small  offences.  If  the  penalty  is  a  fine  of  more 
than  fifteen  pesos  or  imprisonment  for  more  than 
fifteen  days,  the  accused  may  appeal  to  the  Court 
of  First  Instance.    If  the  accused  appeals  and  does 


THE  NEW  TOWN-GOVERNMENT.  105 

not  give  bail,  he  must  remain  in  jail  until  his  trial 
in  the  Court  of  First  Instance. 

In  all  cases  the  President  must  give  the  accused 
a  hearing  as  soon  as  possible  after  his  arrest.  This 
is  nearly  always  within  twenty-four  hours.  The 
President  would  indeed  be  a  despot  if  he  could 
keep  people  in  prison  without  trial. 

Appointing  other  Officials  and  Assistants. — Thus 
the  President  has  a  small  part  as  a  law-maker, 
he  is  the  chief  executive,  and  he  acts  as  a  Judge.  He 
also  has  the  power  to  appoint  some  of  the  officials 
and  assistants.  The  Municipal  Treasurer,  the 
Municipal  Secretary,  and  all  assistants  are  appoint- 
ed by  the  President  with  the  consent  of  the  Council. 
The  President  thinks  of  a  man  whom  he  considers 
a  good  one  for  the  place  and  gives  his  name  to 
the  Council.  If  a  majority  of  the  Council  approve 
the  selection,  the  man  named  is  appointed.  If  a 
majority  of  the  Council  do  not  approve,  the  Presi- 
dent must  name  another  man.  The  right  of  selec- 
tion belongs  solely  to  the  President;  the  Council 
has  only  the  power  to  prevent  the  President  select- 
ing a  bad  or  incapable  man  and  this,  of  course,  is 
a  power  very  important  to  the  welfare  of  the  town. 

In  appointing  the  Municipal  Treasurer  the  ap- 


106  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

proval  of  the  Provincial  Board  must  also  be  ob- 
tained. 

Suspending  and  Removing  Non-elective  Officials 
and  Assistants. — All  the  officials  and  assistants  ap- 
pointed by  the  President  with  the  consent  of  the 
Council  are  called  appointive-officials,  or  non-elec- 
tive officials,  to  distinguish  them  from  the  Presi- 
dent, Vice-President  and  the  Councillors,  who  are 
elective.  All  non-elective  officials  and  assistants 
may  be  suspended  from  office  for  fifteen  days  by 
the  President,  and  with  the  consent  of  a  majority 
of  the  Council  may  be  discharged  from  office. 

A  Councillor  can  be  suspended  or  expelled  by 
two-thirds  of  all  the  members  of  the  Council,  if 
there  is  good  cause. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

TOWN    ELECTIONS. 

How  Officials  are  Chosen. — We  come  now  to 
learn  how  the  officials  are  chosen;  or,  how  the 
people  really  govern  themselves.  For  our  municipal 
government  is  representative  government  and  the 
people  in  choosing  representatives  may  choose  those 
who  believe  what  they  themselves  believe  and  will 
do  what  they  desire.  The  representatives,  or  Coun- 
cillors, are  chosen  by  the  people.  So,  too.  the  Presi- 
dent and  the  Vice-President. 

We  have  learned  that  the  officials  are  only  our 
neighbors.  Some  of  the  people  are  the  government 
of  the  town. 

In  speaking  of  officials  in  Chapter  III,  we  said 
that  all  officials  are  chosen  to  perform  some  ser- 
vice for  the  people. 

We  can  now  understand  the  saying  of  President 
Lincoln  that  representative  government  is  "gov- 
ernment of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the 
people." 

The  choice  by  the  people  of  some  of  themselres 
to  be  officials  is  called  an  election. 

(107) 


108  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

The  people  make  their  choice  by  voting. 

The  right  to  vote  is  called  suffrage. 

The  Suffrage. — Not  all  the  people  have  the  right 
to  vote.  Suffrage  is  called  by  many  writers  a 
privilege,  not  a  right.  It  is  better  to  think  of  it 
as  a  right  that  every  intelligent  and  capable  man 
has  to  take  part  in  the  government.  Society  takes 
away  this  right  from  men  who  would  probably  use 
it  to  injure  society.  Criminals  may  be  deprived  of 
this  right.  Insane  or  feeble-minded  persons  do  not 
have  this  right.  Persons  who  have  not  paid  their 
taxes  and  traitors  to  the  country  do  not  have  the 
right  to  vote.  Boys  and  young  men  under  twenty- 
three  years  of  age  are  denied  this  right  because 
their  intelligence  is  not  mature.  Women  do  not 
have  this  right,  because  it  has  been  the  custom  in 
all  ages  and  in  all  countries  to  give  the  business  of 
government  to  men  only. 

Equality. — Thomas  Jefferson  said  in  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence  of  the  United  States  of  Am- 
erica, "All  men  are  created  equal;  they  are  en- 
dowed by  their  Creator  with  certain  unalienable 
rights;  among  these  are  life,  liberty  and  the  pur- 
suit of  happiness/'  He  did  not  say,  however,  that 
all  men  have  an  equal  right  to  vote.  He  meant  that 
all  men  should  be  equal  under  the  law.     The  law 


TOWN  ELECTIONS  109 

should  protect  all  men's  lives  and  liberty  equally. 
Justice  is  for  the  rich  and  for  the  poor,  for  the  gov- 
ernor and  for  the  humblest  citizen  alike.  By  equal 
right  to  the  pursuit  of  happiness,  he  meant  that 
every  man  has  a  right  to  the  best  life  he  can  make 
for  himself  and  the  best  home  that  he  can  build  for 
himself. 

There  is  no  perfect  equality  in  the  world.  All  men 
are  different.  Some  men  are  born  rich,  some  are 
born  poor.  Some  are  more  intelligent  than  others. 
Some  succeed  while  others  fail.  There  is  no  country 
in  the  world  where  all  men  are  equal  in  all  things.  A 
great  free  country  gives  every  man  an  equal  op- 
portunity to  become  intelligent  and  well-to-do.  As 
we  have  said,  the  laws  protect  all  alike  in  life,  prop~ 
erty  and  business.  The  public  work  is  done  for 
all  equally.  Public  schools  are  open  and  free  to 
all.  This  is  what  we  speak  of  today  as  equality  of 
opportunity.  This  is  the  great  blessing  of  liberty  and 
free  government. 

Equality  of  Opportunity. — Do  not  forget  this 
great  principle  of  government. 

President  Lincoln  was  born  of  very  poor  parents. 
His  family  lived  in  the  wilderness  and  had  no  money 
to  send  him  to  school.  He  worked  hard,  studied 
at  night,  became  a  lawyer,  rose  rapidly  in  his  pro- 


110  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

fession  and  was  finally  elected  President  of  the 
United  States  at  a  most  critical  time.  He  was  al- 
ways a  deep  friend  of  the  common  people.  He 
loved  them  and  was  loved  by  them.  He  explained 
the  saying  of  Jefferson  as  a  great  ideal  which  every 
nation  should  keep  before  it.  "  We  do  not  have 
equality,"  he  said,  "  and  we  never  shall ;  but  let 
us  try  hard  to  become  as  nearly  equal  as  is  possible." 
That  nation,  he  thought,  would  be  greatest  and  hap- 
piest whose  people  were  most  nearly  equal.  In 
order  to  become  more  nearly  equal  the  people  must 
get  rid  of  ignorance  and  poverty,  and  to  do  that 
they  must  have  just  laws  and  free  schools.  With 
just  laws  and  free  schools,  every  man  has  an  oppor- 
tunity. If  he  does  not  become  intelligent  and 
well-to-do,  it  is  his  own  fault.  If  he  is  lazy 
and  idle,  if  he  fails  in  his  own  life,  we  cannot  allow 
our  lives  and  happiness  to  be  put  in  danger  by 
giving  him  a  part  in  the  government.  He  loses  his 
right  to  vote. 

Yet  if  we  make  the  standard  too  high  so  that 
many  people  cannot  become  electors,  only  a  few 
will  have  the  right  to  vote  and  we  are  in  danger 
of  government  by  a  few,  called  an  oligarchy,  which 
is  one  of  the  worst  forms  of  government.  Gov- 
ernment by  a  few  means  that  others  may  govern 


TOWN  ELECTIONS  111 

us;  government  by  all  means  that  we  may  have  a 
part  in  the  government.  It  is  this  kind  of  govern- 
ment, government  by  all,  that  we  hope  to  have 
sometime. 

So,  in  the  Philippines,  only  the  intelligent  and 
capable  can  vote,  but  every  man  has  an  oppor- 
tunity to  become  a  voter.  Every  man  may  obtain 
the  right  to  vote  if  he  prepares  himself.  Every 
child  should  prepare  himself  for  this  great  right. 
If  every  child  does  prepare  himself  to  become  a 
voter,  in  time  all  men  will  be  voters  and  we  shall 
have  government  by  all. 

To  bring  this  about  will  require  a  long  period  of 
gradual  progress.  In  the  United  States  nearly  all 
men,  but  not  all,  have  the  right  to  vote.  Public 
schools  have  been  established  about  three  hundred 
years ;  nearly  all  the  children  go  to  school  and  the 
country  is  now  getting  the  benefit.  Ignorance  is 
a  stubborn  enemy,  but  he  is  surely,  though  slowly, 
dying. 

Who  Can  Vote. — A  person  who  has  the  right  to 
vote  is  called  an  elector.  Who  may  be  an  elector? 
Here  is  Section  6,  Chapter  II  of  the  Municipal  Code, 
which  tells  what  qualifications  a  person  must  have 
to  be  an  elector.     Study  it  carefully. 

Sec.  6.    The  electors  charged  with  the  duty  of 


112  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

choosing  elective  municipal  officers  shall  be  male 
persons,  twenty-three  years  of  age  or  over,  who 
have  had  a  legal  residence  in  the  municipality  in 
which  they  exercise  the  suffrage  for  a  period  of 
six  months  immediately  preceding  the  election, 
and  who  are  not  citizens  or  subjects  of  any  for- 
eign power,  and  who  are  comprised  within  one 
of  the  following  three  classes: 

(a)  Those  who,  prior  to  the  13th  of  August, 
1898,  held  the  office  of  Municipal  Captain,  Gober- 
nadorcillo,  Alcalde,  Lieutenant,  Cabeza  de  Baran- 
gay  or  member  of  any  Ayuntamiento. 

(b)  Those  who  own  real  property  to  the  value 
of  500  pesos,  or  who  annually  pay  thirty  pesos 
or  more  of  the  established  taxes. 

(c)  Those  who  speak,  read  and  write  English 
or  Spanish. 

A  study  of  this  section  shows  that  there  are  four 
general  qualifications;  I  mean  qualifications  that 
all  electors  must  have.  These  are  the  qualifications 
of  age,  sex,  residence  and  citizenship. 

What  is  the  age  qualification? 

What  is  the  sex  qualification? 

What  is  the  residence  qualification? 

What  is  the  citizenship  qualification? 

Now  if  a  man  has  all  these,  he  must  have  at 


TOWN  ELECTIONS  113 

least  one  other  to  be  an  elector.  He  must  have 
the  educational  qualification,  or  the  property  quali- 
fication, or  certain  political  experience.  Of  course 
a  man  may  have  all  three  of  these  qualifications  or 
any  two  of  them.  One  is  enough.  We  shall  call 
these  three  the  special  qualifications. 

What  is  the  educational  qualification? 

What  is  the  property  qualification? 

What  political  experience  qualifies? 

We  understand,  then,  that  a  person  must  have 
the  four  general  qualifications  and  one  special  qual- 
ification to  be  an  elector. 

When  Elections  are  Held. — Elections  are  held 
on  the  first  Tuesday  of  December  of  each  year.  The 
term  of  office  of  the  President,  Vice-President  and 
the  Councillors  is  two  years.  At  the  first  election, 
lots  were  drawn  to  divide  the  Councillors  into  two 
equal  groups.  One  of  these  groups  served  for  one 
year  and  the  other  for  two  years.  At  the  end 
of  the  first  year  one-half  of  the  number  of  Coun- 
cillors were  elected  and  so  on  each  year  following. 
In  this  way  there  are  always  in  the  Council  men 
who  have  had  at  least  one  year's  experience.  The 
President  and  the  Vice-President  are  elected  every 
two  years. 

Power  Returns  to  the  People. — All  the  power  of 


114  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

government  returns  to  the  people  every  two  years. 
Onee  the  officials  are  elected  the  power  of  govern- 
ment passes  to  them.  They  are  the  government. 
But  if  it  is  found  that  they  do  not  obey  the  wishes 
of  the  people  and  work  against  the  public  good, 
other  officials  may  be  chosen  at  the  next  election. 
Election  day  is  a  day  of  judgment.  The  Council- 
lors who  represent  the  people  may  be  changed 
half  one  year  and  half  the  next.  In  comparing 
government  to  a  watch  of  which  the  officials  are 
the  wheels  and  springs,  we  said  that  it  is  the  people 
who  wind  up  the  watch  of  government.  They 
never  allow  it  to  run  down.  They  wind  it  each 
year  when  it  is  only  half  run  down. 

Parties  and  Candidates. — Not  all  the  electors  of 
a  town  agree  upon  questions  of  town  government. 
Perhaps  some  of  the  electors  think  that  the  old 
Council  has  done  some  unwise  things  or  has  refused 
to  do  some  things  that  the  people  want;  while 
others  praise  the  policy  of  the  old  Council  and 
desire  to  have  it  continued.  These  people  form 
two  parties.  Sometimes  they  disagree  about  some 
important  question  that  they  know  must  be  de- 
cided by  the  new  Council.  Some  want  a  new 
school-house,  others  are  opposed  to  having  a  new 
school-house.      Some  say  that  saloons  should  pay 


TOWN  ELECTIONS  115 

a  high  license;  others  want  the  licenses  to  be 
low.  However  the  people  divide,  the  divisions 
form  parties.  They  are  called  political  parties,  for 
this  matter  of  getting  office  and  electing  officials 
is  called  politics. 

The  electors  in  each  party  usually  agree  among 
themselves  upon  certain  men  for  whom  they  in- 
tend to  vote.  These  men  are  called  candidates. 
If  a  man  desires  to  be  elected  to  some  office,  he 
may  announce  that  he  is  a  candidate.  His  friends 
form  a  party  for  him.  Some  men  go  about  the 
town,  making  speeches,  or  calling  upon  the  elec- 
tors to  ask  them  to  vote  for  their  candidate.  These 
men  who  work  for  the  candidates  are  called  party- 
workers.  They  are  also  called  politicians,  or  per- 
sons who  take  a  great  part  in  politics. 

In  countries  where  government  by  the  people 
has  existed  a  long  time,  there  are  always  two  or 
more  parties.  Each  party  decides  before  the  elec- 
tion who  shall  be  its  candidates  for  the  offices, 
and  a  great  campaign  is  carried  on  to  gain  votes 
for  the  party  and  its  candidates.  A  political  cam- 
paign means  making  speeches,  writing  newspaper 
articles  and  calling  upon  electors. 

Corruption  and  Bribery. — Bribery  in  elections  is 
the  use  of  money  to  influence  electors  to  vote  for 


116  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

a  certain  candidate  or  with  a  certain  party.  This 
is  corruption  also,  for  corruption  means  all  the  evil 
things  that  may  be  done  to  get  an  unfair  choice. 
No  candidate  who  offers  money,  or  allows  a  party 
worker  to  offer  money,  to  get  himself  elected  to  of- 
fice should  ever  be  trusted  by  the  people.  A  man 
who  shows  dishonesty  before  an  election  is  sure  to 
show  it  afterwards,  and  the  people  are  taking  a 
dangerous  risk  when  such  men  have  control  of  the 
town  government  and  the  town  money. 

Sometimes  there  are  corrupt  rascals  who  try  to 
get  the  votes  wrongly  counted,  or  to  send  in  false 
reports  of  the  election  in  order  that  they  may  be 
declared  elected  even  against  the  will  of  the  people. 
Such  men  must  be  watched  at  every  turn. 

Good,  honest  men  are  the  ones  that  the  people 
want  to  conduct  the  government  and  there  should 
be  a  fair  and  honest  choice.  If  a  party  and  its  can- 
didates desire  to  succeed  in  an  election,  let  them 
adopt  good  policies  for  the  public  welfare  and  in- 
fluence electors  by  showing  in  honest  argument  that 
their  policies  are  best  for  the  town.  Trust  the 
people  to  decide  rightly  if  they  have  the  question 
put  to  them  fairly.  This  is  the  only  principle  upon 
which  government  by  the  people  can  endure. 

Public  Notice  of  an  Election. — For  the  first  five 


TOWN  ELECTIONS  117 

days  of  November,  the  President  of  the  town  keeps 
a  notice  posted  giving  the  time  and  place  (always 
the  town  hall)  of  the  election  and  the  names  of 
the  offices  to  be  filled,  and  directing  all  electors  to 
come  before  the  Municipal  Secretary  to  take  the 
elector's  oath.  They  must  take  the  oath  between 
the  first  and  fifteenth  of  November. 

Here  is  the  form  of  the  notice  or  proclamation. 

PROCLAMATION. 

Pursuant    to    the    provisions    of  the    Municipal    Code   a 
General    Municipal     Election    is     appointed    to    be   held    at 

,    in    the    Municipality    of 

,   Province  of   

on    the day    of . ,    19 ,    be- 
tween the  hours  of  8  a.  m.  and  4  p.  m.,  to  fill  the  offices  of 
Municipal   President, 
Municipal   Vice-President, 
and Members  of  the  Municipal  Council. 

In   order   to   vote   at   said    election,    any    person  qualified 

as  an  Elector  must  personally  appear  before , 

the  Municipal   Secretary,  on  or  before  the day 

of ,  19 ,  and  take  and  subscribe  the  Elec- 
tor's Oath,  required  by  law  to  be  taken  by  an  Elector,  before 
his  name  shall  be  placed  upon  the  List  of  Qualified  Elec- 
tors. 

Done  under  my  hand  in  the  Municipality  of , 

Province   of    ,    this day 

of 19 


President  of  the  Municipality  of 


118  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

One  copy  of  this  proclamation  is  posted  at  the 
entrance  of  the  town  hall  and  one  in  a  public  and 
conspicuous  place  in  each  barrio. 

Elector's  Oath. — Every  male  person  of  proper  age 
who  reads  this  book  intelligently  should  know  the 
elector's  oath,  for  he  is  qualified  to  be  an  elector. 

ELECTOR'S  OATH. 

I,    ,   do   solemnly 

swear  (or  affirm)  that  I  am  a  male  resident  of  the  munici- 
pality  of ,   in  the 

;    and   shall   have   resided  therein 

for  the  period  of  six  months  immediately  preceding  the  next 
municipal  election;  that  at  the  date  of  said  election  I  shall 
be years  of  age;  that  I  am  not  a  subject  or  citi- 
zen of  any  foreign  power;  that  I  shall  in  all  respects  be 
entitled  to  vote  therein  at  the  next  election  for  municipal 
officers;  furthermore,  that  I  recognize  and  accept  the 
supreme  authority  of  the  United  States  of  America  and  will 
maintain  true  faith  and  allegiance  thereto;  that  I  will  obey 
the  laws,  legal  orders  and  decrees  duly  promulgated  by  its 
authority;  and  that  I  impose  upon  myself  this  obligation 
voluntarily  and  without  mental  reservation  or  purpose  of 
evasion,  so  help  me  God.  (In  case  of  affirmation,  the  words 
"So  help  me  God"  should  be  stricken  out.) 

(Signature  of  the  elector.) 

Subscribed   and   sworn   to    (or   affirmed)    before   me   this 

day  of ,    19 

(Signature  of  the  Municipal  Secretary.) 

List  of  Qualified  Electors. — As  soon  as  possible 
after  the  fifteenth  of  the  month,  the  President  makes 
a  list  of  all  persons  who  have  taken  the  elector's 


TOWN  ELECTIONS  118 

oath  and  posts  the  list  at  the  entrance  of  the  town 
hall.  He  also  makes  separate  lists  of  the  persons 
of  each  barrio  who  have  taken  the  oath  and  posts 
each  list  in  the  proper  barrio.  These  lists  remain 
posted  until  the  twentieth  of  the  month.  With 
each  list  is  a  notice  setting  apart  five  days,  say 
from  the  twentieth  to  the  twenty-fifth,  in  which 
additions  may  be  made  to  the  list  or  objections 
made  to  remove  some  name  from  the  list.  If  any 
qualified  elector  sees  that  his  name  is  not  on  the 
list,  he  may  come  within  those  five  days  and  have 
it  put  on.  If  anyone  believes  that  there  are  names 
of  persons  on  the  list  who  are  really  not  qualified, 
he  may  make  a  complaint  to  have  the  name  or 
names  taken  off.  He  must  make  his  objections  to 
the  President. 

The  President,  the  Vice-President  and  the  Munic- 
ipal Treasurer  form  a  board  to  decide  whether  or  not 
the  person  who  is  complained  against  has  the  quali- 
fications. They  must  write  to  him  their  decision 
at  once.  All  decisions  must  be  made  in  good  time 
before  the  election.  When  all  doubtful  cases  are 
thus  decided  the  list  of  electors  is  complete  for 
the  election. 

Board  of  Election  Judges. — The  next  step  in  pre- 
paring for  the  election  is  the  choice  of  a  Board 


120  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

of  Election  Judges.  The  Election  Judges  are  three 
in  number  and  they  must  be  qualified  electors  who 
are  not  candidates  at  the  coming  election.  To  help 
the  judges  there  are  two  tellers  or  counters  of  votes, 
who  must  also  be  qualified  electors  and  not  candi- 
dates. These  five  men  are  chosen  before  the  elec- 
tion by  those  Councillors  who  have  another  year 
yet  to  serve.  Notice  how  carefully  the  men  are 
chosen  who  conduct  the  election.  This  care  is  taken 
to  select  men  who  have  no  interest  to  decide  un- 
fairly for  one  candidate  or  another.  In  order  that 
the  best  and  most  impartial  men  may  be  chosen, 
the  choice  is  made  by  those  Councillors  who  have 
least  at  stake  in  the  election.  The  Councillors  who 
are  going  out  of  office  may  be  candidates  again  and 
therefore  they  cannot  help  choose  the  judges  and 
tellers. 

Election  Day.  Voting. — Let  us  suppose  that  the 
day  of  the  election  has  come.  Let  us  also  suppose 
that  you  are  an  elector.  You  go  to  the  town  hall 
early.  You  desire  to  see  how  electors  vote,  for  you 
are  to  vote  today  for  the  first  time.  You  enter 
the  largest  room  of  the  town  hall.  There  is  a  part 
where  the  spectators  may  stand.  The  spectators 
are  all  electors,  for  no  one  else  is  allowed  in  the 
room.     A  part  of  the  room  is  cut  off  by  a  railing 


TOWN  ELECTIONS  121 

with  a  gate  through  which  the  electors  enter  to 
vote. 

Inside  the  railing  sit  the  judges.  The  oldest 
judge,  called  the  Chairman  of  the  Board,  has  the 
list  of  qualified  electors  before  him. 

Along  the  wall,  inside  the  railing,  are  small  tables. 
Between  these  tables  are  tall  screens,  of  woven 
bamboo,  or  other  material,  so  that  a  man  at  one 
table  cannot  possibly  see  what  a  man  at  another 
table  is  writing.  This  little  room  made  by  the 
screens  is  called  a  booth. 

On  a  table,  near  the  judges,  is  a  box  with  a 
little  slit  in  the  top.  It  is  locked  and  nothing  can 
be  taken  from  it.  If  you  will  ask,  you  will  learn 
that  just  before  eight  o'clock,  when  the  voting 
began,  the  judges  opened  the  box  and  looked  in 
to  be  sure  that  it  was  empty.  Then  they  locked  it 
tightly  and  the  Chairman  of  the  Board  now  has 
the  key  ki  his  pocket.  This  box  is  called  the  ballot- 
box. 

What  is  a  ballot?  A  ballot  is  the  piece  of  paper 
upon  which  each  elector  writes  the  names  of  the 
men  for  whom  he  desires  to  vote.  You  see  that 
the  tellers  have  a  large  number  of  blank  ballots. 

Watch  the  man  who  enters  now.  As  he  walks 
up  to   the  gate  the  judges  nod  to  him   to   enter. 


122  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

They  know  that  he  is  a  qualified  elector  and  that 
his  name  is  on  the  list.  A  teller  hands  him  a  blank 
ballot.  He  goes  into  one  of  the  booths.  He  writes 
a  little  while,  comes  out  and  walks  up  to  the  bal- 
lot-box. He  has  his  ballot  folded  so  that  no  one  can 
see  what  he  has  written.  He  speaks  out  distinctly, 
telling  his  name  and  the  barrio  in  which  he  resides. 
The  judges  look  at  the  list  to  be  sure  that  his 
name  is  there.  If  they  find  his  name  on  the  list, 
they  say,  "All  right,"  and  he  drops  the  ballot 
through  the  slit  into  the  box.  He  has  voted.  The 
Chairman  puts  a  little  mark  after  his  name  so  that 
he  cannot  come  back  to  vote  again.  For  whom  did 
he  vote?  He  only  knows.  The  election  is  by  secret 
ballot. 

Now  you  enter.  You  take  the  blank  ballot.  You 
go  into  the  booth.  You  look  carefully  at  the  bal- 
lot.    It  reads  something  like  this: 


For  President 

For  Vice-President 
For  Councillor 
For  Councillor 
For  Councillor 
For  Councillor  . . . . 


TOWN  ELECTIONS  1*3 

The  blank  spaces  are  to  be  filled  with  the  names 
of  the  men  whom  you  desire  to  have  as  the  officials 
named.  You  are  alone  in  the  booth.  You  take  a 
final  minute  to  think  whom  you  ought  to  vote 
for.  You  have  been  asked  to  vote  for  this  man  and 
for  that  man.  You  have  been  asked  many  times. 
You  have  perhaps  been  promised  certain  rewards. 
Perhaps  some  men  have  been  so  evil  intentioned 
as  to  threaten  to  injure  you  if  you  vote  against 
them.  It  is  a  minute  for  the  highest  patriotism. 
You  forget  your  relatives,  your  own  private  busi- 
ness and  vote  for  the  men  whom  you  know  to 
be  honest  and  capable,  for  the  men  who  have  served 
the  town  well  and  are  able  and  willing  to  serve  it 
well  in  the  future.  For  this  minute  you  have  great 
power.  Even  if  you  are  poor,  your  power  is  equal 
to  that  of  the  rich  man  in  the  next  booth.  The  bal- 
lot of  the  President  of  the  town,  who  now  enters  to 
vote,  has  no  more  weight  than  yours.  You  feel  your 
independence,  and  you  use  your  power  for  the  wel- 
fare and  progress  of  your  town. 

Nearly  all  that  we  have  been  studying  about  elec- 
tions is  simply  forms  and  modes  which  are  pro- 
vided to  secure  to  you  a  free  and  honest  choice.  The 
real  choice  or  election  comes  in  these  brief  minutes 
which  you  and  other  electors  have  in  the  booth. 


124  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

You  write  in  the  names,  fold  the  ballot,  walk 
out,  announce  your  name  and  barrio,  and  drop  your 
ballot  into  the  box. 

Counting  the  Vote. — Do  not  go  yet.  At  four 
o'clock,  the  voting  stops  and  the  ballots  are  counted. 
If  you  are  quiet  you  may  remain  to  see  the  counting. 
It  is  not  secret.  The  Chairman  of  the  Board  of 
Judges  unlocks  the  box.  The  judges  and  tellers 
count  the  votes,  some  reading  the  ballots,  others 
keeping  count  by  making  a  mark  for  each  vote 
after  the  name  of  the  candidate  receiving  it. 

Plurality. — Let  us  suppose  that  there  are  three 
candidates  for  President,  and  that  there  are  700 
ballots  cast. 

Mr.  A.  receives  302. 

Mr.  B.  receives  290. 

Mr.   C.  receives   108. 

Mr.  A.  is  elected  because  he  has  received  more 
votes  than  any  one  of  the  other  candidates.  More 
than  any  other  one  is  a  plurality.  A  plurality  is 
different  from  a  majority,  which  we  have  seen  is 
the  deciding  number  in  the  votes  of  the  Council. 
A  majority  is  more  than  half.  Mr.  A.  did  not  re- 
ceive a  majority  of  the  votes. 

Let  us  suppose  another  result. 

Mr.  A.  receives  360. 


TOWN  ELECTIONS  125 

Mr.  B.  receives  200. 

Mr.  C.  receives  140. 

Mr.  A.  has  a  plurality  and  also  a  majority. 

In  Municipal  elections,  a  plurality  is  sufficient  to 
elect. 

Certificate  of  Election. — When  they  have  finished 
counting,  the  judges  and  tellers  make  and  sign  a 
certificate  showing  the  result  of  the  election  and 
declaring  who  are  elected.  Two  copies  of  this  cer- 
tificate are  made  and  one  of  them  is  posted  at  the 
entrance  of  the  town  hall  with  the  notice  that  if 
any  resident  has  any  reason  to  think  that  any  man 
elected  is  not  qualified  for  office,  or  that  there  has 
been  a  wrong  count,  or  that  the  election  has  been 
illegal  in  any  way,  he  may  come  within  three  days 
and  state  his  objections  to  the  Board  of  Judges  or 
to  its  chairman. 

If  any  objections  are  made,  the  certificate  and 
the  objections  are  sent  to  the  Provincial  Board,  who 
decide  upon  them.  If  the  Provincial  Board  decide 
that  the  election  has  been  illegal  or  that  one  of 
the  men  is  not  qualified,  they  may  order  another 
election. 

The  elected  officials  take  their  offices  on  the  first 
Monday  of  January  following  the  election. 


126  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

Qualifications  of  Officials. — The  Municipal  Code, 
Section  14,  Chapter  IV.,  reads  as  follows : 

"  Sec.  14.  A  President,  Vice-President  or  Coun- 
cillor shall  have  the  following  qualifications: 

"  (a)  He  shall  be  a  duly  qualified  elector  of  the 
municipality,  twenty-six  or  more  years  of  age,  and 
shall  have  a  legal  residence  therein  for  at  least  one 
year  prior  to  the  date  of  election. 

"  (b)  He  shall  intelligently  speak,  read  and  write 
either  the  Spanish  or  the  English  language  or  the 
local  dialect." 

Ecclesiastics,  soldiers  in  active  service,  officials 
or  employees  of  the  Provincial  or  Central  Govern- 
ment, or  men  who  have  contracts  to  do  the  public 
work  for  the  town  cannot  be  elected  or  appointed  to 
offices  in  the  Municipal  Government. 

Oath. — Before  taking  office  every  official  must 
take  the  oath  of  office  pledging  himself  to  be  faith- 
ful to  the  government  and  to  faithfully  perform 
the  duties  of  his  office. 

Bond. — Every  municipal  officer  who  has  charge 
of  municipal  funds  must  give  bond  as  a  guaran- 
tee to  the  town  that  he  will  honestly  keep  and 
use  the  money  of  the  town  as  the  law  directs  him. 
This  bond  is  a  writing  which  is  signed  by  the  offi- 
cial and  two  or   more   property    owners.     If  the 


TOWN  ELECTIONS  127 

Treasurer,  for  example,  in  any  way  misuses  the 
town  money,  or  fails  to  account  for  it,  the  town 
may  sue  him  and  the  other  signers  of  his  bond 
in  court,  and  collect  the  loss  from  them  or  their 
property.  The  amount  of  the  bond  is  not  less  than 
one-half  of  all  the  municipal  money  which  shall 
come  into  the  official's  hands  in  one  year. 

Councillors  Elected  at  Large. — The  Councillors 
represent  all  the  people  of  the  town,  but  each  Coun- 
cillor represents  especially  one  or  more  barrios.  If 
the  number  of  Councillors  is  equal  to  the  number 
of  barrios,  the  Council  assigns  one  Councillor  to 
each  barrio.  If  there  are  more  barrios  than  Coun- 
cillors, the  barrios  are  grouped  into  districts  and 
each  district  is  assigned  to  one  Councillor.  The 
central  barrio,  or  district,  is  assigned  to  the  Vice- 
President.  The  Code  says  that  each  Councillor 
shall  keep  the  people  of  his  district  informed  about 
the  acts  of  the  Council  and  that  he  shall  present 
to  the  Council  the  special  needs  of  the  people  of 
his  district. 

Although,  however,  each  Councillor  represents  a 
district,  he  is  not  elected  by  the  people  of  his  dis- 
trict only,  nor  is  it  necessary  that  he  shall  be  a  resi- 
dent of  a  barrio  which  he  represents.  He  is  elect- 
ed at  large,  or,  as  we  have  seen,  by  all  the  electors 


128  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

of  the  town.  In  this  way  the  very  best  men  in 
the  whole  town  may  be  chosen.  No  good  man  need 
be  left  out  simply  because  another  has  been  elected 
from  his  barrio.  He  may  be  elected  and  assigned  to 
another  barrio. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  A  PROVINCE. 

The  government  of  a  province  is  much  simpler 
than  the  government  of  a  town.  It  consists  of  only 
a  few  officials.  It  has  only  a  few  duties.  It  does 
things  that  are  of  common  interest  to  all  the  towns. 
It  unites  the  towns  under  one  government  and  is 
the  connecting  link  between  the  towns  and  the  cen- 
tral government. 

What  the  Provincial  Government  Does. — Al- 
though the  duties  of  the  provincial  government  are 
few,  they  are  very  important. 

i.  It  helps  the  towns  keep  order  and  keeps  order 
along  the  roads  and  in  the  country. 

2.  It  collects  taxes  to  pay  for  the  things  it  does 
and  nearly  all  the  taxes  for  the  towns  also. 

3.  It  builds  and  repairs  roads  between  the  towns, 
and  builds  bridges  and  ferries. 

4.  It  maintains  a  free  provincial  school  for  the 
benefit  of  all  the  children  of  the  province. 

The  Provincial  Officials. — The  provincial  officials 
are  five:  The  Governor,  the  Treasurer,  the  Secre- 
tary, the  Fiscal,  and  the  Supervisor. 

(129) 


130  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

The  Governor. — The  Governor  is  the  highest  offi- 
cer of  the  province.  He  is  the  executive  officer  of 
the  province,  as  the  President  is  of  the  town.  He  is 
president,  or  chairman,  of  the  provincial  board.  He 
is  also  the  executive  officer  of  the  Court  of  First  In- 
stance, which  will  be  explained  in  the  chapter  about 
courts. 

When  thinking  of  the  Governor's  power  it  is  well 
to  remember  what  was  said  about  the  president  of 
a  town.  The  Governor,  like  every  other  official,  and 
every  other  official  like  the  Governor,  has  no  power 
which  the  law  does  not  give  him.  He  must  do  what 
the  law  says,  and  if  he  tries  to  use  power  which  the 
law  does  not  give  him,  he  violates  the  law,  and  may 
be  punished  by  the  courts  in  the  same  manner  as 
any  other  person. 

On  the  other  hand,  for  those  things  that  the  law 
commands  him  to  do  the  Governor  has  great  power. 
He  is  the  highest  peace  officer  of  the  province.  He 
commands  the  police  and  may  call  the  police  of  one 
town  to  suppress  disorder  in  another.  He  may  call 
out  the  constabulary  in  case  of  serious  disorder. 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  Governor  to  visit  every  mu- 
nicipality in  the  province  at  least  once  in  six 
months.  If  he  finds  that  any  municipal  officer  is 
neglectful  of  his  duties,  or  guilty  of  any  miscon- 


THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  A  PROVINCE         131 

duct  in  office,  he  may  suspend  him  and  report  him 
to  the  Commission,  which  shall  judge  of  the  wrong. 

The  Provincial  Treasurer. — The  Provincial  Treas- 
urer collects  all  the  taxes  collected  in  the  province 
for  the  province,  for  the  towns  and  for  the  central 
government.  As  we  shall  see,  it  is  very  little  that 
he  sends  to  the  central  government. 

The  Provincial  Secretary. — The  Provincial  Secre- 
tary keeps  all  the  records  of  the  province.  In  the 
absence  or  illness  of  the  Governor  he  acts  as  Gov- 
ernor. He  is  the  secretary  of  the  Provincial  Board 
at  all  of  its  meetings,  where  he  has  duties  like  those 
of  the  Municipal  Secretary  at  the  Council  meetings. 

The  Provincial  Supervisor. — The  Provincial  Su- 
pervisor is  a  trained  civil  engineer.  It  is  his  duty 
to  keep  the  roads  of  the  province  in  repair  and  to 
plan  the  building  of  roads,  bridges,  and  public 
buildings. 

Sometimes  he  takes  charge  of  building  these  him- 
self ;  sometimes  they  are  built  by  contractors.  Pub- 
lic work  is  often  done  by  contract.  The  plans  tell- 
ing just  what  is  wanted  to  be  done  are  published  in 
newspapers  or  by  notices  and  any  one  who  cares 
to  undertake  the  work  may  send  a  written  offer 
called  a  bid,  stating  how  and  at  what  price  he  is 
willing  to  do  the  work.    Usually  many  bids  are  re- 


132  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

ceived.  The  government  then  decides  which  is 
the  lowest  and  best  bid,  and  usually  gives  the  con- 
tract to  the  man  who  makes  it ;  but,  if  the  govern- 
ment is  not  satisfied  with  the  bids  received,  it  may 
refuse  them  all.  A  contractor  hires  the  workmen, 
sometimes  furnishes  all  the  material  and  sometimes 
not,  according  to  the  terms  of  the  contract,  and  does 
the  work,  exactly  as  he  would  if  working  for  a  pri- 
vate citizen.  When  the  work  is  satisfactorily  fin- 
ished, the  government  pays  the  contractor  for  it. 

If  the  public  work  of  the  province  is  done  by  con- 
tract, the  Supervisor  makes  all  the  plans  and  adver- 
tises them.  Often,  as  is  said  above,  he  does  the 
work  himself,  that  is,  he  hires  men  to  do  it  and  di- 
rects their  work. 

The  Provincial  Fiscal. — The  Provincial  Fiscal  is 
the  public  prosecutor  of  the  province.  He  is  a  lawyer. 
It  is  his  duty  to  bring  charges  against  any  official  or 
private  citizen  who  commits  a  crime  in  the  prov- 
ince, or  who  he  is  reasonably  certain  has  committed 
a  crime  in  the  province.  He  then  comes  into  court 
to  complain  against  the  accused  and  to  conduct  the 
trial  against  him. 

The  Fiscal  is  the  adviser  of  the  town  governments 
and  the  provincial  government  about  all  matters  of 
law.    Whenever  they  have  any  doubt  what  the  law 


THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  A  PROVINCE         133 

is  or  what  a  law  means  they  consult  the  Fiscal.  If 
any  suit  is  brought  against  the  government  of  town 
or  province,  the  Fiscal  is  the  lawyer  to  defend  the 
government. 

The  Provincial  Board. — The  Provincial  Board  is 
the  council  of  the  province.  It  is  the  only  body  of 
law-makers  of  the  provincial  government.  We  have 
seen  that  whatever  government  does,  its  method  is 
to  make  laws  ordering  persons  to  do  the  work 
and  granting  money  to  pay  for  it.  The  laws  of  the 
Provincial  Board  seem  very  simple.  They  are 
merely  orders,  but  they  have  the  force  of  law. 

Who  Constitute  the  Board. — There  are  only  three 
members  of  the  Provincial  Board,  the  Governor,  the 
Treasurer,  and  the  Supervisor.  The  Provincial 
Secretary  acts  as  Secretary  at  all  of  its  meetings. 
The  Governor  is  chairman,  or  president. 

Meetings. — The  Provincial  Board  holds  regular 
weekly  meetings,  and  special  meetings  upon  the  call 
of  the  Governor.  All  of  the  meetings  are  open  to 
the  public.  These  men  are  doing  the  people's  work 
and  the  people  have  a  right  to  see  and  know  how 
they  do  it. 

Duties  of  the  Provincial  Board. — The  principal 
duties  of  the  Provincial  Board  are: 


134  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

i.  To  fix  the  rate  of  taxation  on  real  estate  for  the 
provincial  revenue,  within  the  limits  fixed  by  law 

2.  To  buy,  rent  or  build  offices  and  a  court  house. 

3.  To  order  the  building  of  roads,  bridges  and 
ferries,  upon  the  recommendation  of  the  Supervisor ; 
and  to  approve  or  reject  contracts  when  public  work 
is  done  by  contract. 

4.  To  order  the  payment  of  salaries  or  payment 
for  public  work. 

Payments  From  the  Provincial  Treasury. — It  is 
the  duty  of  the  Provincial  Treasurer  only  to  collect 
and  keep  the  money  of  the  province.  He  cannot 
pay  it  out  without  orders.  The  Provincial  Board 
orders  every  payment,  however  small.  When  the 
Board  orders  something  paid,  the  Governor  writes 
an  order  called  a  warrant,  directing  the  Treasurer 
to  pay.  The  warrant  is  signed  also  by  the  Secre- 
tary. If  the  Treasurer  thinks  that  it  is  not  right  to 
pay  it,  or  that  it  is  unlawful,  he  refers  the  matter  to 
the  decision  of  the  Auditor  of  the  islands. 

All  of  this  care  is  taken  to  avoid  any  loss  or  any 
wrong  expenditure  of  the  public  money. 

How  Provincial  Officials  are  Chosen. — The  Pro- 
vincial Governor  is  elected  by  the  Councillors  and 
Vice-Presidents  of  the  towns  of  the  province. 

The  Provincial  Secretary,  the  Provincial  Treas- 


THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  A  PROVINCE         135 

urer,  the  Provincial  Supervisor  and  the  Fiscal  are 
appointed  by  the  Commission. 

Qualifications. — No  man  can  be  chosen  to  these 
offices  who  is  not  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  or 
a  citizen  of  the  Philippines. 

The  Secretary  must  know  how  to  read  and  write 
the  Spanish  language,  and  after  January  i,  1906, 
the  English  language  also. 

The  Supervisor  must  be  a  civil  engineer  and  sur- 
veyor. 

Terms  of  Office. — The  term  of  office  of  a  gov- 
ernor is  two  years.  The  officials  appointed  by  the 
Commission  do  not  have  a  fixed  term  of  office.  They 
may  be  discharged  at  any  time  at  the  will  of  the 
Commission.  The  rule  is,  however,  to  keep  them 
in  the  service  during  good  behavior. 

How  the  Governor  is  Elected. — On  the  first  Mon- 
day in  February  of  every  even  year,  at  8  A.  M.,  the 
Councillors  and  the  Vice-Presidents  of  the  towns 
meet  in  the  capital  of  the  province  to  elect  a  Gov- 
ernor. This  meeting  is  called  a  convention,  a  word 
which  means  meeting.  The  Secretary  of  the  prov- 
ince calls  the  convention  to  order.  He  acts  as 
chairman  to  organize  the  convention.  The  first 
thing  done  is  the  selection  of  tellers  to  count  the 
ballots  cast  by  the  convention  in  voting.     These 


136  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

tellers  are  selected  by  secret  voting,  each  member 
having  one  vote.  After  the  selection  of  tellers,  the 
convention  votes  by  secret  ballot  to  select  a  presid- 
ing officer,  or  chairman,  of  the  convention,  and  also 
a  secretary.  The  presiding  officer  has  duties  like 
those  of  the  President  in  the  meetings  of  a  town 
council.  He  states  the  motions  and  announces  the 
results  of  the  votes. 

When  these  officials  are  chosen,  the  convention  is 
said  to  be  organized.  The  convention  is  ready  for 
the  real  business  of  the  meeting,  the  election  of  a 
Governor.  The  law  says  that  the  election  shall  be 
by  secret  ballot  and  a  majority  of  the  members  of 
the  convention  present  are  necessary  to  elect. 

Procedure  of  a  Convention. — In  the  United  States 
are  held  many  conventions  like  this  provincial  con- 
vention, but  not  for  the  election  of  Governors.  Con- 
ventions are  held  by  each  political  party  separately 
to  select  its  candidates  for  any  office  that  is  going 
to  be  rilled  by  the  vote  of  the  people  at  a  coming 
election.  Thus,  every  four  years  the  Republican 
party  has  a  great  convention  in  some  large  city,  in 
which  the  delegates  sent  by  the  members  of  that 
party  in  all  the  states  choose  the  Republican  candi- 
dates for  President  and  Vice-President  of  the 
United  States.    The  Democratic  party  has  its  great 


THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  A  PROVINCE        137 

convention  at  about  the  same  time  to  choose  the 
Democratic  candidates.  So  do  the  minor  parties. 
Conventions  are  also  held  in  all  the  state  capitals 
to  choose  candidates  for  state  offices,  and  in  every 
town,  city  and  county  to  select  candidates  for  the 
local  offices. 

There  is  this  difference  between  party  conven- 
tions in  the  United  States  and  the  provincial  con- 
ventions of  the  Philippines.  The  former  are  to 
choose  candidates  who  must  be  voted  upon  in  an 
election  which  follows;  they  do  not  elect  officials, 
while  in  the  provincial  convention  the  Governor  is 
elected. 

The  procedure  may  well  be  the  same  in  both. 
The  American  procedure  is  very  simple.  If  we  ap- 
ply it  to  the  provincial  convention,  this  is  what 
would  happen: 

Nominations. — As  soon  as  the  convention  is  or- 
ganized the  presiding  officer  says  something  like 
this :  "  The  convention  being  organized,  we  shall 
now  proceed  with  the  business  of  the  meeting,  which 
is  the  election  of  a  provincial  Governor.  Nomina- 
tions are  now  in  order." 

The  party  of  each  candidate  for  Governor  will 
have  arranged  before  the  meeting  for  some  speaker 
to  nominate  its  man.    Accordingly  some  gentleman 


138  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

arises  immediately,  addresses  the  chair,  and  being 
recognized,  says,  "  Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  of 
the  Convention,  I  desire  to  place  before  the  conven- 
tion the  name  of  Mr.  A."  This  is  called  a  nomina- 
tion, or  naming  a  candidate.  Perhaps  the  speaker 
makes  a  short  speech  setting  forth  the  good  quali- 
ties of  his  candidate.  Often,  however,  speeches  are 
prohibited  and  a  simple  nomination  only  is  allowed. 

Voting. — As  soon  as  the  first  speaker  is  seated, 
another  arises  and  nominates  another  candidate. 
Time  is  always  given  to  see  if  there  are  any  more 
candidates  to  be  presented.  When  all  are  presented, 
the  presiding  officer  announces  to  the  convention, 
"The  following  names  have  been  presented  for  your 
consideration,"  reading  the  names  of  all  the  men 
who  have  been  nominated,  "and  the  convention  will 
now  proceed  to  vote."  The  members  write  their 
choice  on  ballots.  The  tellers  collect  and  count  the 
written  ballots  and  the  presiding  officer  announces 
the  result.  If  no  candidate  has  received  the  vote 
of  a  majority  of  the  members  present,  another  ballot 
must  be  taken  and  the  convention  must  continue  to 
ballot  until  some  candidate  receives  a  majority. 

Quarterly  Meetings  of  Town  Presidents. — The 
Presidents  of  the  towns  hold  a  meeting  in  the  capi- 
tal of  the  province  four  times  a  year,  on  the  third 


THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  A  PROVINCE         139 

Monday  in  January,  April,  July,  and  October  to 
consider  improvements  needed  in  the  province  and 
in  the  provincial  government,  and  to  recommend  to 
the  Provincial  Board  to  make  these  improvements. 
In  these  meetings  the  Presidents  do  not  make  laws ; 
they  give  advice  to  the  Provincial  Board,  which  has 
the  power  to  accept  the  advice  or  not  as  it  decides. 
The  purpose  of  these  meetings  is  to  keep  the  Pro- 
vincial Board  informed  about  the  needs  of  the 
province  and  the  desires  of  the  people. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

MUNICIPAL  AND   PROVINCIAL  REVENUES  AND   EXPENDI- 
TURES. 

Outline  of  This  Chapter. — In  Chapter  IX.  were 
described  the  different  kinds  of  taxes  collected  in 
the  Philippines,  and  before  studying  this  chapter  it 
would  be  well  to  review  Chapter  IX.  In  this  chap- 
ter we  shall  see  what  kinds  of  taxes  are  collected  for 
the  use  of  town  governments,  how  they  are  levied, 
how  the  tax  on  real  property  is  assessed  and  how  all 
the  taxes  are  collected.  There  are  some  taxes  col- 
lected from  the  people  in  the  towns  of  a  province 
which  go  half  to  the  town  governments  and  half  to 
the  provincial  government.  There  are  others  which 
go  only  to  the  provincial  government  and  others 
which  go  only  to  the  town  governments. 

Taxes  for  the  Provincial  Government  Only. — 
There  are  onty  two  kinds  of  taxes  collected  exclu- 
sively for  the  use  of  the  provincial  government. 
These  are:  I.  Fees  charged  for. registering  the  ti- 
tles to  land.    2.  A  tax  on  real  property. 

i.  A  small  fee  is  charged  the  owner  of  land  for 
registering  or  making  a  record  of  his  title,  which 

(140) 


REVENUES  AND  EXPENDITURES  141 

record  makes  his  title  more  secure.  The  revenue 
from  the  registry  of  titles  is  very  small. 

2.  The  Provincial  Code  provides  that  a  tax  shall 
be  collected  upon  all  real  property  in  a  province  at 
the  rate  of  ^  of  I  per  cent,  of  its  value  and  that  the 
revenue  received  must  be  spent  for  building  and  re- 
pairing roads  and  bridges  in  the  province  in  which 
it  is  collected. 

The  Provincial  Board  has  the  power  to  levy  as 
much  as  i  of  i  per  cent.  more.  Hence,  if  the  Pro- 
vincial Board  collects  all  that  it  has  power  to  collect, 
the  real  property  tax  of  the  province  will  be  f  of  i 
per  cent,  of  the  value  of  all  real  property  in  the  prov- 
ince. 

Taxes  for  the  Town  Government  Only. — The  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  taxes  collected  exclusively  for  the 
town  government  may  be  considered  in  seven 
groups : 

i.  A  tax  on  real  property.  The  Municipal  Code 
provides  that  a  tax  of  at  least  J  of  i  per  cent, 
must  be  collected  upon  all  the  real  property  of 
a  town,  and  that  the  revenues  from  this  tax  must 
be  spent  to  support  free  public  primary  schools 
or  to  rent  or  build  school  buildings,  in  the  town 
in  which  it  is  collected.  The  town  council  has 
the  power  to  levy  a  tax  of  \  of  I  per  cent,  more  on 


142  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

the  real  property  of  the  town  to  pay  the  expenses  of 
the  town  government.  Thus  if  the  council  levies  as 
much  as  it  can  the  rate  of  the  tax  on  real  property 
for  the  use  of  the  town  will  be  \  of  I  per  cent.  If 
we  add  this  \  of  i  per  cent,  for  the  town  to  the  |  of 
1  per  cent,  which  may  be  collected  for  the  province, 
from  the  same  property,  we  find  that  the  owners  of 
real  property  have  to  pay,  at  the  most,  only  \  of  I 
per  cent.  This  is  a  very  low  rate  compared  with  the 
rates  in  other  countries  of  the  world,  and  for  this 
reason  the  provincial  boards  will  usually  levy  the 
extra  \  and  the  town  councils  should  also  levy  the 
extra  \  in  order  that  there  will  be  sufficient  money 
to  pay  the  expenses  of  good  government.  It  is  pos- 
sible that  this  rate  is  too  low  and  ought  to  be  raised. 

2.  Fees  for  granting  privileges  of  fisheries. 

3.  Fees  for  certificates  of  ownership  of  large 
cattle  and  for  certificates  of  transfer  of  title  when 
they  are  sold  or  traded. 

4.  Rents  and  profits  from  all  property  belonging 
to  the  municipality,  tolls  from  ferries,  municipal 
stables,  markets,  slaughter  houses,  public  bath 
houses  and  cemeteries  belonging  to  the  municipal- 
ity. 

5.  Rents   for  the   privilege   of   establishing   the 


REVENUES  AND  EXPENDITURES  143 

things  named  under  No.  4,  when  the  Council  allows 
individuals  to  establish  and  conduct  them. 

6.  Licenses  for  billiard-tables,  theatrical  perform- 
ances, horse-races  and  circuses;  for  the  selling  at 
retail  in  quantities  of  not  more  than  five  gallons  of 
any  intoxicating,  malt,  vinous,  mixed  or  fermented 
liquors ;  for  the  keeping  of  dogs ;  for  cock-pits,  cock- 
fighting  or  the  keeping  or  training  of  fighting-cocks ; 
for  public  carriages,  carts  or  hearses  kept  for  hire ; 
and  for  cafes,  restaurants,  hotels,  inns  and  lodging- 
houses. 

7.  Municipal  fines.  All  fines  collected  in  the  Pres- 
ident's Court  or  in  the  Justice  Court  go  into  the  Mu- 
nicipal Treasury. 

Note  that  the  taxes  numbered  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  and  7 
may  differ  in  every  town  because  the  rate  of  all 
these  taxes  is  determined  in  each  town  by  the  town 
council.  So,  too,  for  the  same  reason  the  rate  of  the 
tax  on  real  property  may  vary  in  each  town,  be- 
cause the  Council  of  each  town  decides  whether  or 
not  the  i  of  1  per  cent,  extra,  or  any  part  of  it,  is  to 
be  levied  in  that  town.  The  student  should  go  to  the 
town  hall  and  learn  the  rates  of  taxation  in  his  own 
town. 

Joint  Provincial  and  Municipal  Taxes. — In  addi- 
tion to  the  provincial  taxes,  named  above,  which  are 


144  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

all  for  the  province  in  which  they  are  collected,  and 
the  municipal  taxes,  named  above,  which  are  all  for 
the  town  in  which  they  are  collected,  there  are  five 
other  taxes  which  are  half  for  the  town  and  half 
for  the  province.    These  are : 

1.  The  industrial  tax. 

2.  The  cedula  tax. 

3.  The  stamp  tax. 

4.  The  cart  tax — a  tax  is  collected  on  carts  which 
have  narrow  tires,  or  carts  which  have  revolving 
axles,  instead  of  having  the  wheels  turn  on  the 
axles.  The  object  of  this  tax  is  to  make  people 
stop  using  such  carts  because  they  are  bad  for  the 
roads ;  not  really  to  produce  revenue. 

5.  Forestry  tax.  In  order  to  preserve  the  forests 
the  central  government  has  established  a  Forestry 
Bureau,  which  inspects  all  the  forests  and  sells  li- 
censes to  cut  timber.  The  inspectors  mark  the 
grown  and  the  old  trees  to  be  cut  first  and  save  the 
young  and  valuable  trees.  The  money  collected  for 
these  licenses  is  the  forestry  tax.  The  central  gov- 
ernment receives  this  tax,  and  after  paying  the  ex- 
penses of  the  Bureau  of  Forestry  divides  the  re- 
mainder equally  between  the  town  and  the  province 
in  which  the  timber  was  cut. 

With  this  one  exception  of  the  expenses  of  the 


REVENUES  AND  EXPENDITURES  145 

Forestry  Bureau,  every  cent  of  money  that  is  col- 
lected from  the  people  in  a  province  is  spent  by  the 
governments  of  the  towns  and  the  provinces  for  lo- 
cal purposes ;  not  a  cent  of  it  goes  out  of  the  prov- 
inces. In  this  way  the  people  are  able  to  know  how 
much  money  is  paid  to  their  government  and  are 
able  to  judge  whether  or  not  they  receive  the  good 
service,  good  schools  and  good  roads  for  which  they 
pay.  If  they  do  not  receive  these  things  it  is  either 
because  they  do  not  pay  enough  or  because  they 
have  not  chosen  good  officials  to  serve  them. 

The  Taxes  of  the  Central  Government. — We  have 
said  that  not  a  cent  of  the  taxes  above  named  is 
used  by  the  central  government  except  the  small 
amount  from  the  forestry  tax  to  pay  the  expenses 
of  the  Forestry  Bureau. 

All  the  revenues  of  the  central  government  come 
from  import  and  export  duties  collected  at  the  cus- 
tom house.  As  explained  in  Chapter  IX.,  the  peo- 
ple who  buy  foreign  goods  to  use,  eat,  or  wear  pay 
the  import  duties,  by  having  to  pay  a  little  more  for 
the  foreign  goods  on  account  of  the  tax.  This  is  the 
easiest  tax  that  we  have  to  pay,  for  we  pay  it  almost 
without  knowing  it. 

How  the  Taxes  are  Levied. — The  industrial,  ced- 
ula,  stamp,  cart  and  forestry  taxes  are  levied  by  a 


146  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

law  of  the  centra?  government.  So,  too,  is  the  J  per 
cent,  real  property  tax  for  town  schools,  and  the  •£ 
per  cent,  real  property  tax  for  provincial  roads. 
These  are  the  same  all  over  the  islands. 

The  extra  £  per  cent,  real  property  tax  for  the 
provincial  government  may  be  levied  according  to 
the  decision  of  the  Provincial  Board,  which  knows 
best  the  needs  of  the  province  and  the  means  of  the 
people  to  pay. 

The  extra  J  of  i  per  cent,  real  property  tax  for  the 
use  of  the  towns  and  all  of  the  other  municipal  taxes 
may  be  levied  according  to  the  decision  of  the  town 
council,  which  knows  best  the  needs  of  the  town 
and  the  means  of  its  inhabitants.  This  gives  the 
town  council  a  great  deal  of  power.  It  gives  the 
council  also  a  heavy  responsibility  for  the  welfare 
of  the  town  and  the  progress  of  the  town  depends 
upon  the  wisdom  of  the  council. 

How  Municipal  and  Provincial  Taxes  are  Col- 
lected.— The  Provincial  Treasurer  is  the  chief  col- 
lector of  both  provincial  and  municipal  taxes. 

The  real  property  tax,  cedula  tax,  industrial  tax, 
cart  tax,  and  licenses  must  be  paid  once  each  year. 
To  collect  these  taxes  the  Provincial  Treasurer  or 
his  deputy  spends  three  weeks  in  each  town,  in  the 
months  of  March,  April  and  May,  according  to  a 


REVENUES  AND  EXPENDITURES  147 

proclamation  which  he  sends  out  in  advance.  At 
some  time  in  these  three  weeks  every  taxpayer  must 
come  to  the  Treasurer's  office,  usually  in  the  town 
hall,  to  pay  his  tax. 

If  a  taxpayer  does  not  come  and  pay  his  tax  with- 
in the  three  weeks  set  he  is  charged  15  per  cent,  of 
the  amount  of  his  tax  as  a  penalty,  and  the  Treas- 
urer may  seize  some  of  his  personal  property  to  sell 
at  auction  to  collect  the  tax  and  the  penalty. 

If  the  owner  of  real  property  does  not  pay  the 
real  property  tax  and  the  Treasurer  cannot  find 
enough  personal  property  to  pay  the  tax,  he  may 
sell  a  part  of  the  land  sufficient  to  pay  the  tax  and 
penalty,  but  the  owner  may  receive  the  land  back  if 
he  pays  the  tax  and  penalty  within  a  year. 

How  the  Real  Property  is  Assessed  for  Taxation. 
— To  assess  real  property  for  taxation  means  to  de- 
termine the  value  in  order  that  the  amount  of  tax  to 
be  paid  by  the  owner  may  be  determined;  for  the 
real  property  tax  is  a  per  cent,  of  the  value  of  the 
property. 

It  is  difficult  to  determine  the  exact  value  of  lands 
and  houses  and  improvements  because  values  vary 
a  great  deal  on  account  of  location,  fertility  of  the 
soil,  and  for  other  reasons.     Real  property  is  as- 


148  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

sessed  by  local  boards  called  Boards  of  Assessors. 
There  is  a  Board  of  Assessors  in  each  town. 

The  board  has  three  members,  the  town  Presi- 
dent, the  municipal  Treasurer  and  a  deputy  of  the 
provincial  Treasurer.  The  municipal  Secretary  is 
secretary  of  the  board.  It  is  the  duty  of  every 
owner  of  real  property  to  make  a  declaration,  or 
statement,  in  writing,  of  the  amount  of  real  prop- 
erty that  he  has,  giving  a  description  of  it  and  its 
location. 

The  board  holds  meetings  to  make  a  list  of  all 
the  real  property  in  the  town,  using  the  declarations 
and  putting  in  also  any  other  property  that  has  not 
been  declared.  The  board  may  examine  witnesses 
to  determine  the  ownership  and  value  of  any  real 
property  in  the  town.  When  this  list  is  made  the 
board  estimates  the  value  in  money  of  every  piece 
of  property.  In  doing  this  the  board  must  try  to  be 
fair  and  fix  proper  values. 

When  this  list  of  property  and  the  assessed  values 
is  finished,  copies  of  it  are  posted  at  the  town  hall 
and  in  the  barrios,  and  the  board  will  hold  other 
meetings  to  hear  complaints  of  owners  and  to 
change  the  estimated  values  if  they  think  that  the 
first  assessment  is  unjust. 

To   understand   how   an   assessment   works,   let 


REVENUES  AND  EXPENDITURES  149 

;s  suppose  that  A's  property  is  assessed  at 
$800;  B's  at  $432.25;  Cs  at  $1,843;  D's  at  $240°> 
etc.,  etc.  The  sum  of  the  values  of  all  property  on 
the  list,  let  us  suppose,  is  $640,000;  $640,000  is  the 
assessed  value  of  all  the  real  property  of  the  town. 
If  the  rate  in  the  town  is  J  of  1  per  cent.,  the  amount 
of  money  that  the  town  will  receive  from  the  real 
property  tax  will  be  .oo5X$640,ooo=$3,200.  A's 
town  tax  would  be  .005  X$8oo=$4.oo.  D's  town  tax 
would  be  .005  X $2,400=$  1 2.00.  The  sum  of  the 
amounts  paid  by  all  would  be  equal  to  $3,200.  If* 
however,  A's  property,  which  is  really  worth  $800, 
is  estimated  by  the  board  at  only  $400,  his  tax  would 
be  .005X$400=$2,  just  half  the  tax  that  he  ought  to 
pay.  If  the  property  of  all  other  men  in  the  town  is 
estimated  at  its  real  value,  they  pay  their  full  share 
while  A  pays  only  half  of  his  share,  which  is  unfair. 
It  is  clear,  then,  that  the  board  must  watch  care- 
fully to  estimate  all  property  at  the  same  rate,  to 
distribute  the  tax  fairly. 

Sometimes  all  of  the  property  in  a  town  is  as- 
sessed at  too  low  a  value.  Let  us  see  what  effect 
this  has.  If,  in  the  example  given  above,  every 
man's  property  is  estimated  at  only  half  its  value, 
the  sum  will  only  be  half  as  much,  or  $320,000.  The 
amount   of   money   that   the   town   would   receive 


150  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

would  be  .005  X $320,000,  or  $1,600.  \  Thus  the 
government  would  have  only  half  the  money  that 
it  ought  to  have  and  the  schools,  roads,  police,  and 
so  forth  would  not  be  good  because  they  would  be 
poorly  paid  for. 

It  is  clear,  then,  that  to  give  the  town  a  good 
revenue  the  property  should  be  assessed  at  its  full 
value. 

Full  value  and  fair  assessment  can  usually  be  ob- 
tained if  the  board  assesses  all  property  at  the  real 
value  at  which  such  property  usually  sells  in  the 
town. 

If  it  becomes  the  custom  to  assess  property  too 
low,  the  only  thing  that  can  be  done  is  to  increase 
the  rate ;  $320,000  worth  of  property  at  1  per  cent, 
brings  the  same  revenue  as  $640,000  at  J  of  I  per 
cent. 

Provincial  taxes  are  collected  on  this  same  assess- 
ment. 

Board  of  Tax  Appeals. — If  any  taxpayer  thinks 
that  the  Board  of  Assessors  has  not  estimated  the 
value  of  his  property  fairly,  and  complains  to  them, 
and  is  still  not  satisfied,  he  may  appeal  to  the  Pro- 
vincial Board,  which  for  this  purpose  is  called  a 
Board  of  Tax  Appeals.    The  taxpayer  must  appeal 


REVENUES  AND  EXPENDITURES  151 

from  the  decision  of  the  Board  of  Assessors  within 
ten  days.  If  the  Board  of  Tax  Appeals  finds  that 
an  injustice  has  been  done  it  may  change  the  tax 
list  of  the  town  to  make  the  correction. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

HISTORY   OF   THE    ESTABLISHMENT    OF   THE    NEW    CIVIL 
GOVERNMENT. 

War  Between  United  States  and  Spain. — The 
sympathy  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  for  the 
oppressed  Cubans  brought  on  a  war  between  the 
United  States  and  Spain.  War  was  declared  by  the 
United  States  April  21,  1898.  August  12  the  fight- 
ing was  over.  December  10,  1898,  Spain  and  the 
United  States  agreed  to  a  treaty  of  peace,  called  the 
Treaty  of  Paris.  By  this  treaty  the  United  States 
became  the  protector  of  Cuba  until  the  Cubans 
should  form  a  government  of  their  own.  This  they 
did  and  became  free  and  independent. 

The  liberation  which  they  had  fought  for  during 
so  many  long  years  came  to  them  at  last  from  the 
hands  of  the  United  States.  Thus  the  real  purpose 
of  the  war  was  accomplished. 

American  Occupation  of  the  Philippines. — Yet 
something  more  important  to  us  happened  in  this 
war.  In  every  war  that  has  ever  been  fought  more 
things  have  happened  than  people  expected  before 
the  war  began.    History  is  full  of  surprises.    Colum- 

(152) 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT      153 

bus  trying  to  find  the  western  route  to  India  found  a 
new  world.  The  United  States,  fighting  to  liberate 
Cuba,  found  herself  in  possession  of  the  Philippine 
Islands.    This  came  about  in  the  following  manner : 

When  it  appeared  to  William  McKinley,  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  that  war  was  about  to  be- 
gin between  the  United  States  and  Spain  he  ordered 
Commodore  George  Dewey,  in  command  of  the 
Asiatic  Squadron  of  the  United  States,  to  watch  the 
Spanish  fleet  in  the  east  and  if  war  were  declared  to 
find  and  destroy  it.  On  the  first  day  of  May,  1898, 
ten  days  after  war  was  declared,  Commodore 
Dewey  entered  Manila  Bay  and  destroyed  the  Span- 
ish fleet. 

The  United  States  desired  to  end  the  war  as  soon 
as  possible,  and  to  do  this  she  desired  to  break  the 
power  of  Spain  on  the  land  as  well  as  upon  the  sea ; 
accordingly  troops  were  sent  to  capture  Manila. 
The  Spaniards  surrendered  Manila  on  August  13, 
3898.' 

The  next  day  after  taking  possession  of  Manila 
the  American  general  in  command  issued  a  procla- 
mation to  the  people  of  the  Philippines  assuring 
them  that  all  their  rights  and  liberties  would  be 
protected.  Two  days  later  word  came  that  hostili- 
ties had  ceased. 


154  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

Cession  of  the  Philippines  to  the  United  States. — 

From  the  time  of  the  occupation  of  Manila  until  the 
treaty  was  made,  the  people  of  the  United  States 
were  anxiously  reading  and  studying  about  these 
new  people  who  had  come  under  their  protection, 
for,  before  Dewey's  battle,  the  people  of  the  United 
States  knew  very  little  about  the  Philippines  and 
the  Filipinos.  The  people  of  the  United  States  were 
divided  in  their  opinions  about  what  to  do  with  the 
Philippines.  A  large  number  of  Americans  wished 
that  Dewey  had  sailed  away  after  the  Spanish  fleet 
was  destroyed  and  that  the  troops  had  not  taken 
possession  of  the  islands,  for  they  thought  that  the 
Filipinos  would  be  a  heavy  burden  and  would  get 
the  United  States  into  many  troubles.  Nearly  all 
Americans  dislike  the  idea  of  possessing  colonies. 
They  believe  that  every  people  ought  to  govern 
themselves.  For  these  reasons  those  Americans  who 
wished  that  Dewey  had  sailed  straight  out  of  Ma- 
nila Bay  said  that  the  Philippines  are  across  the 
Pacific,  far  away ;  to  care  for  them  would  waste  the 
time  and  money  of  the  United  States  and  take  the 
attention  of  the  American  people  from  their  own 
affairs.  They  said  that  the  United  States  had 
enough  to  do  to  govern  herself  and  to  develon  her 
industries  and  commerce. 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT      155 

There  was  another  large  number  of  people  in  the 
United  States  who  said  that  the  Filipinos  had  never 
been  allowed  to  govern  themselves  and  that  they 
were  not  able  to  govern  themselves  wisely.  They 
said  that  the  Filipinos  had  never  had  any  other 
model  of  government  than  the  Spanish  model  and 
that  the  Spanish  government  in  the  Philippines 
had  been  one  of  the  worst  in  the  world.  They  said 
that  there  were  some  Filipinos  who  wished  to  give 
the  country  a  good  government  and  who  would  do 
all  that  they  could,  but  that  there  were  other  men 
who  were  very  ambitious  to  get  all  the  power  into 
their  own  hands  and  become  the  rulers  of  the  coun- 
try. They  feared  that  some  one  would  seize  all  the 
power  and  that  the  people  would  be  worse  off  than 
they  were  under  Spanish  rule.  This  is  exactly  what 
happened  in  many  countries  of  South  America.  When 
those  countries  became  free  from  Spain  and  tried  to 
establish  republics,  some  ambitious  men  seized  all 
of  the  power  and  made  themselves  rulers  or  dic- 
tators. Then  other  ambitious  men  raised  armies 
to  displace  those  in  power.  Civil  wars  followed  and 
those  countries  were  in  a  wretched  condition. 

Fearing  that  such  things  might  happen  in  the 
Philippines,  this  part  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States  said :  No,  we  cannot  abandon  the  islands  new 


156  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

and  take  away  our  protection  from  the  Filipinos. 
It  is  our  duty  to  remain  and  establish  a  good  gov- 
ernment, that  will  give  peace  and  order,  civil  and 
religious  liberty  to  all  of  the  people,  a  government 
that  shall  treat  all  alike.  And  more,  it  is  our  duty 
to  teach  them  what  government  by  the  people  is 
and  prepare  them  for  the  time  when  they  can  gov- 
ern themselves  and  have  a  government  by  all  the 
people. 

These  two  parties,  the  party  which  said  that  the 
United  States  should  abandon  the  Philippines  at 
once,  and  the  party  which  said  that  it  was  the  duty 
of  the  United  States  to  protect  the  Philippines  and 
establish  here  a  good  and  free  government,  were  ar- 
guing all  the  time,  but  the  latter  won  more  people 
than  the  other.  In  the  Treaty  of  Paris  it  was,  there- 
fore, provided  that  Spain  should  give  up  all  the  Phil- 
ippines to  the  United  States.  At  that  time  the  United 
States  had  possession  of  only  a  small  portion  of 
them.  In  order  to  get  the  remainder  peacefully 
without  any  more  trouble,  the  United  States  paid 
Spain  $20,000,000.  She  could  easily  have  taken  the 
remainder  by  force,  but  she  has  always  preferred 
peaceful  means  rather  than  war.  It  was  in  this 
way,  and  for  these  reasons,  that  the  United  States 
came  into  possession  of  the  Philippines. 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT      157 

Insurrection  Against  the  United  States. — Now 
that  it  had  been  decided  that  the  United  States 
should  remain  in  possession  of  the  Philippines,  the 
President  of  the  United  States  sent  instructions  to 
the  Military  Governor,  whom  he  had  appointed  tem- 
porarily to  govern  the  islands,  to  establish  civil  gov- 
ernment as  soon  as  possible,  to  establish  representa- 
tive governments  in  the  towns,  and  to  appoint  to 
the  offices  as  far  as  possible  the  inhabitants  of  the 
islands,  and  to  give  "  in  every  possible  way  the  full 
measure  of  individual  rights  and  liberty  which  is 
the  heritage  of  a  free  people. "  While,  however,  it 
was  the  intention  of  the  United  States  to  establish 
a  good,  free  government,  to  a  great  extent  in  the 
hands  of  the  people  themselves,  a  great  many  Fili- 
pinos did  not  understand  the  motives  of  the  United 
States. 

A  government  had  been  partly  organized  by  some 
Filipinos  with  Emilio  Aguinaldo  at  its  head,  sup- 
posing that  the  United  States  would  give  them 
control  as  soon  as  they  destroyed  Spanish  authority. 
But  for  the  reasons  stated  above,  the  United  States 
did  not  think  best  to  do  so.  Besides,  this  govern- 
ment did  not  represent  more  than  a  small  part  of 
the  people  of  the  islands.  Accordingly,  this  ambi- 
tious leader  organized  an  insurrection  against  the 


158  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

authority  of  the  United  States,  which  broke  out 
February  4,  1899.  A  war  followed  and  delayed  the 
plan  for  the  establishment  of  governments,  but  did 
not  stop  the  work  entirely. 

Establishment  of  Civil  Government — As  long  as 
it  was  necessary  in  order  to  carry  on  the  war  the 
islands  were  governed  by  a  Military  Governor,  and 
in  the  parts  in  which  insurrection  existed,  by  mili- 
tary law,  which  means  simply  the  orders  of  the  gen- 
eral in  command.  Yet  even  at  this  time  wherever 
the  towns  were  pacified,  municipal  governments 
were  established  and  the  people  were  asked  to  elect 
their  officials. 

On  June  3,  1900,  a  commission  of  five  eminent 
Americans  arrived  in  Manila  with  instructions  to 
study  the  islands  and  the  needs  of  the  people  in  or- 
der to  frame  laws  that  would  be  suited  for  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  islands.  These  men  were  William 
H.  Taft,  Dean  C.  Worcester,  Luke  E.  Wright, 
Henry  C.  Ide,  and  Bernard  Moses.  They  gathered 
Information  from  a  large  number  of  Filipinos,  tak- 
ing advice  from  every  one,  and  hearing  all  sides. 

On  September  1  they  began  their  legislative  du- 
ties. The  Military  Governor  still  had  the  executive 
power,  the  Commission  had  the  law-making  power, 
but  all  laws  were  to  be  approved  by  the  Secretary 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT      159 

of  War  of  the  United  States  of  America.  On  Janu- 
ary 31,  1901,  Act  No.  82,  called  the  Municipal  Code, 
was  passed  by  the  Commission.  It  is  this  law  which 
established  the  form  of  town  government  which 
you  have  already  studied  in  this  book. 

February  6,  1901,  the  Commission  passed  Act  No. 
83,  a  plan  of  provincial  government.  In  passing 
these  laws  and  all  others,  the  Commission  held  open 
sessions  and  the  people  were  requested  to  attend,  to 
give  advice  and  to  discuss  the  proposed  laws,  and 
in  this  way  the  Commission  was  able  to  learn  what 
would  be  suited  to  the  country  and  satisfactory  to 
the  people.  Later  the  Commission  made  a  long 
tour  from  province  to  province,  meeting  repre- 
sentatives of  the  towns  in  the  capital  of  each  prov- 
ince to  talk  over  the  new  plan  of  provincial  govern- 
ment and  to  make  such  changes  as  were  necessary 
to  fit  it  to  each  province.  In  nearly  all  the  provinces 
governments  were  established  on  this  new  plan  in 
the  year  1901. 

Central  Government. — The  central  government, 
which  is  to  complete  the  plan  of  government  for  the 
islands,  has  not  yet  been  fully  established.  We 
have  seen  how  the  government  has  grown.  In  fact, 
all  good  governments  are  gradual  growths.  This 
is  one  of  the  most  important  things  to  be  learned 


160  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

about  governments.  They  are  living  things  that 
grow  and  change.  We  must  be  sure  that  our  gov- 
ernment is  growing  in  the  right  direction,  then  we 
must  wait  patiently  and  give  it  time  to  grow.  It  is 
as  difficult  to  take  the  government  of  one  country 
and  plant  it  in  another  as  it  is  to  transplant  a  grown 
tree.  In  many  ways  this  is  what  has  been  done 
here.  Free  government  by  the  people,  which  grew 
up  in  England,  and  was  carried  to  America,  and  has 
been  growing  there  better  and  better  for  three  hun- 
dred years,  has  been  planted  in  the  Philippines. 
Time  is  necessary  for  the  roots  to  get  firm  in  the 
ground,  and  we  must  wait  for  the  fruits ;  but  there 
is  no  doubt  that  it  will  yield  the  same  rich  fruits 
here  as  in  America. 

One  step  in  the  formation  of  the  central  govern- 
ment was  the  appointment  of  the  Commission  as  a 
law-making  body. 

The  second  step  was  the  inauguration  of  William 
H.  Taft  as  the  first  Civil  Governor,  on  July  4,  1901. 
On  September  1,  1901,  the  Commission  was  in- 
creased to  eight  members.  The  three  new  members 
were  Dr.  Pardo  H.  Tavera,  Benito  Legarda, and  Jose 
Luzuriaga.  To  assist  the  Governor  in  the  executive 
work  four  executive  departments  were  created,  the 
Department   of   the    Interior,   the   Department  of 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT     161 

Commerce  and  Police,  the  Department  of  Finance 
and  Justice,  and  the  Department  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion. One  of  the  Commissioners  was  appointed  to 
take  charge  of  each  department. 

On  October  29  the  office  of  Vice-Governor  was 
created  and  Luke  E.  Wright  was  appointed  to  fill  it. 

In  the  year  1901,  also,  the  Judicial  branch  of  the 
central  government  was  established.  The  Supreme 
Court  was  organized.  Cayetano  Arellano  was  ap- 
pointed Chief  Justice.  Florentino  Torres,  Joseph  F. 
Cooper,  James  F.  Smith,  Charles  A.  Willard,  Vic- 
torius  Mapa  and  Fletcher  Ladd  were  appointed  As- 
sociate Judges. 

The  Courts  of  First  Instance  and  the  Justice 
Courts  were  set  up  at  the  same  time. 

Thus  the  three  branches  of  the  civil  government 
were  put  in  operation.  Military  rule  ceased  entirely 
on  July  4,  1902,  and  the  President  of  the  United 
States  proclaimed  a  pardon  to  all  persons  who  had 
been  in  insurrection  against  her  authority. 

The  Philippine  Government  Act. — But  as  is  said 
above,  the  plan  of  government  is  not  yet  complete. 
The  Congress  of  the  United  States  of  America 
passed  a  law  on  July  1,  1902,  confirming  the  form  of 
government  which  was  already  established  and 
giving  an  outline  of  a  plan  to  change  the  legislative 


162  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

branch  of  the  central  government,  by  creating  an 
assembly  of  Filipinos  to  take  part  in  making  the 
laws.  This  law  of  Congress  is  called  the  Philippine 
Government  Act. 

Bill  of  Rights.— This  act  contains  a  "  Bill  of 
Rights,"  that  is,  a  statement  of  the  great  rights  of 
civil  and  religious  liberty,  with  the  command  that 
no  law  shall  ever  be  made  in  the  Philippine  Islands 
which  shall  take  away  any  of  these  rights  from  the 
people.  The  Bill  of  Rights  is  section  5  of  the  Act, 
and  is  in  the  appendix  of  this  book. 

The  Census. — This  Act  provided  that  there 
should  be  a  census  taken  which  should  collect  in- 
formation about  the  number  of  people,  the  name, 
age,  sex,  race  and  tribe  of  every  person  in  the 
islands,  ability  to  read  and  write,  school  attendance, 
ownership  of  homes,  and  the  condition  of  farming 
and  other  industries.  This  census  was  taken  in  the 
year  1903.  All  of  this  information  was  collected  in 
order  to  learn  the  exact  condition  of  the  people  and 
the  country. 

The  Philippine  Assembly. — This  Act  also  pro- 
vides that  two  years  after  the  census  is  com- 
pleted, provided  that  peace  continues  in  the  islands, 
the  Commission  shall  ask  the  people  to  elect  dele- 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT     163 

gates,  or  representatives,  to  a  popular  assembly,, 
which  shall  be  called  the  Philippine  Assembly. 

The  Legislature. — When  this  assembly  is  organ- 
ized the  law-making  power  will  be  vested  in  a  Leg- 
islature, composed  of  two  houses,  the  Philippine 
Commission  and  the  Philippine  Assembly. 

Study  of  the  Document  Itself. — To  learn  more 
about  this  proposed  Legislature,  the  readers  of  this 
book  should  study  the  Act  itself.  Section  7, 
which  gives  the  provisions  for  the  establishment  of 
the  Legislature,  is  printed  here  for  that  purpose. 

In  studying  this  section,  students  should  find  the 
answers  to  the  questions  which  are  asked  below. 

SEC.  7  OF  THE  PHILIPPINES  GOVERNMENT  ACT. 

Sec.  7.  That  two  years  after  the  completion  and  publica- 
tion of  the  census,  in  case  such  condition  of  general  and 
complete  peace  with  recognition  of  the  authority  of  the 
United  States  shall  have  continued  in  the  territory  of  said 
Islands  not  inhabited  by  Moros  or  other  non-Christian 
tribes  and  such  facts  shall  have  been  certified  to  the  Presi- 
dent by  the  Philippine  Commission,  the  President  upon  being- 
satisfied  thereof  shall  direct  said  Commission  to  call,  and  the 
Commission  shall  call,  a  general  election  for  the  choice  of 
delegates  to  a  popular  assembly  of  the  people  of  said  territory 
in  the  Philippine  Islands,  which  shall  be  known  as  the 
Philippine  Assembly.  After  said  assembly  shall  have  con- 
vened and  organized,  all  the  legislative  power  heretofore 
conferred  on  the  Philippine  Commission  in  all  that  part  of 
said  Islands  not  inhabited  by  Moros  or  other  non-Christian 


164  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

tribes  shall  be  vested  in  a  legislature  consisting  of  two 
houses — the  Philippine  Commission  and  the  Philippine  As- 
sembly. Said  assembly  shall  consist  of  not  less  than  fifty 
nor  more  than  one  hundred  members  to  be  apportioned  by 
said  Commission  among  the  provinces  as  nearly  as  prac- 
ticable according  to  population:  Provided,  That  no  province 
shall  have  less  than  one  member:  And  Provided  Further, 
That  provinces  entitled  by  population  to  more  than  one 
member  may  be  divided  into  such  convenient  districts  as  the 
said  Commission  may  deem  best. 

Public  notice  of  such  division  shall  be  given  at  least 
ninety  days  prior  to  such  election,  and  the  election  shall  be 
held  under  rules  and  regulations  to  be  prescribed  by  law. 
The  qualification  of  electors  in  such  election  shall  be  the 
same  as  is  now  provided  by  law  in  case  of  electors  in 
municipal  elections.  The  members  of  assembly  shall  hold 
office  for  two  years  from  the  first  day  of  January  next  fol- 
lowing their  election,  and  their  successors  shall  be  chosen  by 
the  people  every  second  year  thereafter.  No  person  shall  be 
eligible  to  such  election  who  is  not  a  qualified  elector  of  the 
election  district  in  which  he  may  be  chosen,  owing  allegiance 
to  the  United  States,  and  fwenty-five  years  of  age. 

The  legislature  shall  hold  annual  sessions,  commencing 
on  the  first  Monday  of  February  in  each  year  and  continu- 
ing not  exceeding  ninety  days  thereafter  (Sundays  and  holi- 
days not  included)  ;  Provided,  That  the  first  meeting  of  the 
legislature  shall  be  held  upon  the  call  of  the  governor 
within  ninety  days  after  the  first  election :  And  Provided 
Further,  That  if  at  the  termination  of  any  session  the  ap- 
propriations necessary  for  the  support  of  government  shall 
not  have  been  made,  an  amount  equal  to  the  sums  appropri- 
ated in  the  last  appropriation  bills  for  such  purposes  shall 
be  deemed  to  be  appropriated;  and  until  the  legislature  shall 
act  in  such  behalf  the  treasurer  may,  with  the  advice  of  the 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT      165 

governor,  make  the  payments  necessary  for  the  purposes 
aforesaid. 

The  legislature  may  be  called  in  special  session  at  any 
time  by  the  civil  governor  for  general  legislation,  or  for 
action  on  such  specific  subjects  as  he  may  designate.  No 
special  session  shall  continue  longer  than  thirty  days,  ex- 
clusive of  Sundays. 

The  assembly  shall  be  the  judge  of  the  elections,  returns, 
and  qualifications  of  its  members.  A  majority  shall  con- 
stitute a  quorum  to  do  business,  but  a  smaller  number  may 
Adjourn  from  day  to  day  and  may  be  authorized  to  compel 
the  attendance  of  absent  members.  It  shall  choose  its 
speaker  and  other  officers,  and  the  salaries  of  its  members 
And  officers  shall  be  fixed  by  law.  It  may  determine  the 
rule  of  its  proceedings,  punish  its  members  for  disorderly 
behavior,  and  with  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds  expel  a 
member.  It  shall  keep  a  journal  of  its  proceedings,  which 
shall  be  published,  and  the  yeas  and  nays  of  the  members 
on  any  question  shall,  on  the  demand  of  one-fifth  of  those 
present,  be  entered  on  the  journal. 

What  part  of  the  Central  Government  shall  have  the  law- 
making power? 

Ans.  The  Legislature  has  the  power  to  make  laws  to 
govern  all  the  people  of  the  Islands,  except  in  those  parts 
which  are  inhabited  by  Moros  or  other  non-Christian  tribes. 

What  are  the  two  branches  of  the  Legislature? 

Why  is  the  Assembly  called  a  "popular  Assembly"? 

When  will  it  be  organized? 

How  many  members  or  delegates  shall  the  Assembly  have? 

How  shall  the  number  of  delegates  be  divided  among  the 
Provinces  ? 

How  shall  the  first  election  be  held? 

Who  shall  have  the  right  to  vote  for  delegates? 

What  shall  be  the  term  of  office  of  a  delegate? 


166  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

What  shall  be  the  qualifications  of  a  delegate? 

How   often  shall   the   Legislature   meet? 

At  what  time  of  the  year? 

How  long  shall  the  Legislature  be  in  session? 

How  much  money  shall  the  Central  Government  have  the 
right  to  spend  if  the  Legislature  closes  any  session  with- 
out making  a  law  to  fix  the  amount? 

When  shall  the  Legislature  hold  a  special  session? 

How  long  may  a  special  session  be? 
1    If  it  be  charged   that  any   member  of  the  Assembly  has 
been  wrongly  elected,  who  shall  decide? 

How  many  will  be  a  quorum  of  the  Assembly? 

What  is  the  presiding  officer  of  the  Assembly  called? 

He  will  have  duties  like  what  officer  in  a  meeting  of 
the  town  council? 

How  will  he  be  chosen? 

What  power  has  the  Assembly  to  keep  order  in  its  meet- 
ing? 

What  is  a  journal? 

What  shall  be  written  in  it? 

Why  should  the  yeas  and  nays  be  written  in  it? 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

EXECUTIVE    DEPARTMENTS    OF    THE    CENTRAL    GOVERN- 
MENT. 

Chief  Executive. — The  Civil  Governor  is  the  chief 
executive  of  the  islands.  It  is  his  duty  to  see  that 
all  the  laws  made  by  the  Commission  are  enforced. 
He  cannot  himself  be  in  every  place  that  a  law 
operates  to  see  that  it  is  obeyed,  for  the  laws  operate 
everywhere.  To  help  him  he  has  a  large  number  of 
assistants. 

By  his  right  to  suspend  from  office  provincial  and 
municipal  officials  for  wrongful  conduct,  he  has  a 
great  power  to  protect  the  people  in  every  part  of 
the  islands.  He  is  also,  through  the  Chief  of  Con- 
stabulary and  his  subordinates,  the  highest  peace 
officer  in  the  islands,  for  he  is  commander-in-chief 
of  the  Constabulary. 

Whenever  the  Governor  is  absent  or  ill  his  place 
is  taken  by  the  Vice-Governor. 

Executive  Departments. — In  order  to  divide  the 
public  work  and  to  put  it  in  charge  of  different  men 
so  that  it  can  be  more  easily  performed,  four  de- 
partments have  been  created.    These  are,  the  De- 

VJ67) 


168  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

partment  of  the  Interior,  the  Department  of  Finance 
and  Justice,  the  Department  of  Commerce  and  Po- 
lice, and  the  Department  of  Public  Instruction. 

The  head  of  each  department  is  called  a  Secre- 
tary. Each  Secretary  is  also  a  member  of  the  Phil- 
ippine Commission. 

All  of  these  departments  are  also  under  the  super- 
vision of  the  Civil  Governor,  but  each  is  directly 
under  the  charge  of  its  Secretary. 

Executive  Bureaus. — Each  department  has  under 
its  direction  a  large  amount  of  public  work.  In  or- 
der to  do  this  work  in  an  orderly  way  each  de- 
partment is  divided  into  bureaus.  The  head  of  each 
bureau  is  called  the  chief  of  the  bureau.  Sometimes 
a  chief  has  another  title,  for  example,  the  chief  of 
the  Bureau  of  Education  is  also  called  the  General 
Superintendent  of  Education. 

Each  chief  of  a  bureau  has  under  him  many  clerks 
and  assistants.  The  chief  directs  and  the  clerks  do 
the  work.  Thus  the  work  is  divided  out  to  an  army 
of  workers.  It  is  a  large  army,  but  it  is  an  army  of 
peace  and  order. 

THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  INTERIOR. 

Bureau  of  Public  Health. — The  head  of  this  bu- 
reau is  called  the  Commissioner  of  Public  Health. 


EXECUTIVE   DEPARTMENTS  169 

He  is  the  President  of  the  Philippines  Board  of 
Health,  which  is  composed  of  nine  members.  It  is 
the  duty  of  the  Board  of  Health  to  guard  the  public 
health  and  to  take  measures  to  prevent  the  spread 
of  epidemics  among  people  or  among  animals. 

Bubonic  plague  and  cholera,  which  may  come  at 
any  time  across  the  China  Sea,  small-pox,  and  the 
rinderpest  among  animals  are  the  enemies  which 
the  Board  of  Health  has  always  to  fight. 

The  Central  Board  has  supervision  over  the  Pro- 
vincial and  Municipal  Boards  of  Health. 

The  Central  Board  of  Health  publishes  informa- 
tion to  instruct  the  people  in  regard  to  health  and 
sanitation.  It  inspects  foods  and  drinks.  It  drafts 
laws  about  the  practice  of  medicine,  pharmacy, 
dentistry  and  laws  to  control  offensive  and  danger- 
ous industries.  It  does  not  make  these  laws;  it 
simply  recommends  them  to  the  Commission. 

The  Forestry  Bureau. — The  work  of  the  Forestry 
Bureau  is  to  protect  the  supply  of  timber  in  the 
islands  by  preserving  the  young  and  growing  trees 
of  the  valuable  classes.  The  officials  of  the  bureau 
select  the  trees  that  are  ready  to  cut  and  sell  li- 
censes, charging  rates  fixed  by  law.  The  officials  of 
the  Forestry  Bureau  are  the  Chief  Forester,  Assist- 
ant Foresters,  Rangers,  and  Botanists. 


170  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

Bureau  of  Public  Lands.— The  public  lands  are 
the  lands  belonging  to  the  government.  The  old 
theory  was  that  all  the  land  of  a  country  belonged 
to  the  king  and  private  owners  could  get  land  only 
by  buying  it  from  the  king  or  receiving  it  from  the 
king  as  a  gift,  or  as  a  reward  for  meritorious  service. 
Modern  governments  take  charge  of  unoccupied 
land,  mainly  for  the  purpose  of  distributing  it.  By 
selling  it  in  small  farms  at  low  prices  they  enable 
many  men  to  become  owners  of  land,  get  the  land 
cultivated  and  thereby  increase  the  wealth  of  the 
people. 

Thus  the  Philippine  Government  Act  created  a 
plan  for  such  distribution.  It  provides  for  what  is 
known  as  a  homestead  law.  It  is  the  duty  of  the 
Bureau  of  Public  Lands  to  first  survey  the  public 
land  in  order  to  determine  boundaries,  to  divide  the 
public  lands  into  homesteads  and  to  make  rules  for 
selling  homesteads  at  a  small  cost  to  persons  who 
are  willing  to  live  on  the  land  and  cultivate  it. 

The  survey  will  be  difficult  and  will  require  some 
time.  But  when  this  plan  for  the  sale  of  public 
lands  is  in  operation  it  will  afford  opportunities  to 
persons  of  small  means,  who  have  the  energy  and 
industry,  to  become  well-to-do  owners  of  farms. 

Bureau  of  Agriculture. — The  purpose  of  the  Bu- 


r 


EXECUTIVE   DEPARTMENTS  171 

reau  of  Agriculture  is  to  promote  agriculture  in  the 
islands,  to  study  the  methods  of  farming  in  other 
countries  and  to  introduce  better  methods  in  this 
country. 

The  bureau  tries  and  exhibits  new  farming  ma- 
chinery, and  distributes  to  all  parts  of  the  islands 
seeds  of  food  plants  of  new  species  or  of  better  va- 
rieties than  those  already  cultivated.  The  bureau 
also  examines  the  soil  to  determine  what  will  grow 
best  on  the  different  kinds  of  soil. 

The  bureau  issues  bulletins  for  the  information 
of  the  people,  which  may  be  had  free  by  writing  to 
the  bureau.  Hundreds  of  thousands  of  hectares  of 
land  in  the  Philippines  are  now  uncultivated  and 
produce  nothing.  Much  of  this  is  public  land,  which 
may  be  purchased  from  the  government.  The  Bu- 
reau of  Agriculture  hopes  to  increase  the  progress 
of  agriculture  until  every  hectare  will  be  yielding 
good  harvest.  When  that  time  comes  the  people 
will  be  very  well-to-do  and  the  Philippines  will  be 
a  very  rich  country. 

Weather  Bureau. — The  chief  purpose  of  the 
weather  bureau  is  to  report  the  approach,  direction 
and  violence  of  storms  for  the  protection  of  com- 
merce. The  central  station  of  the  weather  bureau 
is  in  Manila  at  the  Manila  Observatory.    In  August 


172  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

1902,  fifty-one  stations  had  been  established  and 
twenty-one  more  had  been  planned.  These  sta- 
tions are  scattered  all  over  the  islands  in  every 
part  and  are  connected  by  telegraph. 

The  weather  bureau  also  announces  the  approach  of 
rain  and  issues  monthly  bulletins  about  the  weather 
for  the  help  of  farmers.  Besides,  the  bureau  makes 
many  observations  that  are  of  great  value  to  science. 

DEPARTMENT   OF   COMMERCE  AND   POLICE. 

Constabulary. — The  most  important  bureau  of 
this  department  is  that  of  the  Constabulary.  The 
Constabulary  consists  of  about  6,000  men  and  offi- 
cers. With  the  help  of  the  municipal  police  the 
Constabulary  is  charged  with  the  duty  of  keeping 
peace  and  order  in  all  parts  of  the  islands. 

The  Chief  of  Constabulary  is  the  head  of  the  force, 
and  is  subordinate  only  to  the  Civil  Governor.  Un- 
der the  chief  are  the  inspectors,  who  have  command 
of  the  Constabulary  in  the  provinces. 

The  Governor  of  a  province  may  call  the  Constab- 
ulary to  stop  a  riot  or  to  put  down  disorder. 

The  Constabulary  is  organized  like  an  army  of 
soldiers.  They  are  not  soldiers,  however;  they  are 
policemen. 


EXECUTIVE   DEPARTMENTS  173 

The  men  and  officers  of  the  Constabulary  are  ap- 
pointed and  paid  by  the  central  government. 

Bureau  o£  Posts. — The  Bureau  of  Posts  has 
charge  of  carrying  the  mail.  In  June,  1902,  there 
were  160  postoffices  in  the  islands,  and  more  are  be- 
ing established.  A  letter  can  be  sent  from  any  part 
of  the  islands  to  any  other  part  for  one  cent.  Quick 
mails  from  one  place  to  another  are  very  important 
aids  to  business  and  commerce.  They  are  also  a 
great  convenience  to  friends.  One  of  the  most  im- 
portant uses  of  the  mails  is  the  distribution  of  news- 
papers and  magazines.  Good  newspapers  and  good 
magazines  increase  the  knowledge  of  the  people, 
and  their  wide  circulation  is  an  indication  of  the 
intelligence  of  a  people. 

The  postoffices  also  transmit  money  from  one 
place  to  another.  If  you  wish  to  send  money  to  a 
person  in  another  town,  you  can  go  to  the  post- 
office  of  your  town  and  by  depositing  the  sum  that 
you  wish  to  send,  and  paying  a  small  fee,  you  will 
receive  an  order,  called  a  Postal  Money  Order,  di- 
recting the  postmaster  of  the  other  town  to  pay  the 
amount  named  to  the  person  you  designate.  This 
order  you  mail  to  the  person  and  thus  save  the 
inconvenience  of  actually  sending  the  money. 

Where  there  are  banks  money  can  be  sent  in  a 


t74  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

similar  way  by  buying  a  draft  from  a  bank  in  your 
town  payable  by  a  bank  in  another  town  to  the  per- 
son named  in  the  draft.  Thus,  the  postoffices  do 
somewhat  the  same  work  as  a  bank.  They  also 
serve  as  banks  in  another  way.  That  is,  they  re- 
ceive money  on  deposit  and  guarantee  its  safe  keep- 
ing. The  postoffices  may,  in  this  way,  be  used  by 
the  people  as  savings  banks. 

Bureau  of  Telegraphs. — In  many  of  the  larger 
towns  there  are  telegraph  stations.  Any  one  wish- 
ing to  send  a  telegram  to  any  other  station  may  do 
so  for  a  small  fee.  The  telegraph  is  in  charge  of 
the  Constabulary.  It  is  a  public  telegraph,  operated 
by  the  government  and  intended  for  the  use  of  the 
government  and  of  private  persons. 

In  America  telegraph  lines  are  owned  by  private 
companies  and  the  cost  of  sending  telegrams  is 
higher  than  it  is  here. 

Some  Other  Bureaus  of  the  Department  of  Com- 
merce and  Police  are  the  Bureau  of  Coast  Guard 
and  Transportation,  the  Bureau  of  Engineering  and 
Construction,  the  Bureau  of  Prisons  and  the  Bureau 
of  Lighthouses. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  FINANCE  AND  JUSTICE. 

Bureau   of  the   Insular  Treasury. — The   Insular 


EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENTS  175 

Treasurer  receives  all  the  insular  revenue  and  pays 
all  the  bills  of  the  insular  government. 

Nearly  all  the  money  which  passes  through  his 
hands  comes  from  the  Custom  House.  He  also  di- 
rects the  Provincial  Treasurers,  who  report  to  him 
aU  of  their  collections. 

Bureau  of  Insular  Auditor. — The  Insular  Auditor 
is  the  inspector  of  all  the  accounts  of  the  provincial 
and  central  governments.  No  money  can  be  paid 
out  before  the  account  is  examined  by  one  of  his 
assistants  and  found  to  be  correct  and  in  accord- 
ance with  the  law.  This  is  a  very  important 
bureau,  for  it  guards  against  wrongful  expenditure 
of  the  public  money. 

Bureau  of  Customs  and  Immigration. — The  work- 
ing of  the  Custom  House  has  been  described  in  the 
sections  about  export  and  import  duties. 

There  is  a  custom  house  in  every  port  of  entry. 
All  goods  going  from  or  coming  into  the  country 
must  be  inspected  at  a  custom  house  and  if  the 
goods  are  dutiable  the  duty  must  be  paid  before 
they  are  allowed  to  pass. 

Another  function  of  the  customs  service  is  to 
guard  against  the  admission  of  persons  who  are 
prohibited  from  immigrating  to  this  country,  as  are 
certain  classes  of  the  Chinese. 


176  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

DEPARTMENT   OF   PUBLIC   INSTRUCTION. 

Bureau  of  Education. — The  Bureau  of  Education 
has   charge   of  the   public   schools   of  the  islands. 


nas   cnarge   01   tne   puDiic   scnoois 
These  have  already  been  spoken  of. 


The  head  of  the  bureau  is  called  the  General  Su- 
Vi 

perintendent  of  Education.    He  has  a  first  assistant 

called  the  Assistant  General  Superintendent.  Be- 
low him  in  rank  and  under  his  charge  are  the  Divi- 
sion Superintendents,  through  whom  he  directs  and 
controls  all  the  American  and  native  teachers. 

This  bureau  buys  almost  all  the  school  supplies 
and  distributes  them. 

It  is  one  of  the  most  expensive  bureaus.  Its  great 
purpose  is  to  establish  a  modern  system  of  educa- 
tion as  good  as  any  other  country  has,  and  to  bring 
education  to  the  great  masses  of  the  people. 

Other  Important  Bureaus  of  this  department  are 
the  Bureau  of  Statistics,  the  Bureau  of  Public  Print- 
ing, and  the  Bureau  of  Architecture  and  Construc- 
tion of  Public  Buildings. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

COURTS. 

Introductory. — One  of  the  most  difficult  branches 
of  government  to  understand  in  almost  any  country 
is  the  judicial  branch.  Because,  in  nearly  all  coun- 
tries the  courts  have  been  growing  for  centuries, 
with  strange  old  names,  and  old  duties  and  customs. 
When  new  courts  have  been  established  to  meet 
modern  conditions,  the  old  courts  have  remained. 
It  is  sometimes  hard  even  for  a  lawyer  to  know 
what  court  to  go  to.  Besides,  many  years  ago 
courts  had  such  long  drawn  out  ways  of  doing 
things.  Everything  had  to  follow  old  forms.  In 
England,  and  in  many  parts  of  Europe,  all  laws 
were  once  in  Latin,  and  afterwards  French  was  the 
language  used  in  England,  on  account  of  the  con- 
quest of  England  by  the  Normans,  or  French. 
Many  difficult  words  thus  came  into  use  in  law  and 
in  the  courts. 

Courts  always  cling  to  old  customs.  In  England 
what  is  custom  is  often  decided  to  be  the  law.  So, 
in  the  Philippines  in  very  early  times,  before  the 
Spanish  came,  whenever  any  dispute  arose,  it  was 

(177) 


178  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

referred  to  the  old  men,  who  would  ask,  "  What  is 
the  custom  ?  M  and  that  decided  the  matter. 

Even  when  custom  is  not  law,  the  courts  seem 
to  love  the  old  customs,  the  old  forms,  and  the  old 
words,  and  this  is  the  reason  that  courts  are  usually 
hard  to  understand.  This  difficulty  is  also  found  in 
the  United  States,  which,  being  a  new  country,  you 
might  think  free  from  antiquated  forms.  Many  of 
the  states,  however,  still  follow  the  old  law  of  Eng- 
land, called  the  Common  Law,  very  closely,  and 
have  many  courts  patterned  after  those  of  England. 
Some  of  the  newer  states  of  the  middle  and  west  of 
the  United  States  have  been  more  independent. 
They  have  tried  in  every  way  to  omit  every  useless 
thing  in  law  and  in  courts,  and  have  tried  to  make 
law  and  its  practice  in  the  courts  as  simple  and 
plain  as  possible.  This  they  have  been  able  to  do  at 
the  same  time  that  they  have  made  liberty  as  secure 
and  justice  as  sure  as  they  are  in  any  country. 

In  the  reorganization  of  the  courts  of  the  Philip- 
pines in  1901,  the  Philippines  received  the  benefit  of 
the  experience  of  American  states.  The  courts  have 
been  made  as  simple  as  possible.  Justice  is  brought 
to  the  home  of  every  man  by  local  Justice  Courts. 
Traveling  Judges  of  great  learning  in  the  law  come 
to  or  reside  in  every  province  to  try  the  more  im- 


COURTS  179 

portant  cases;  and  in  the  three  largest  cities  the 
august  tribunal  of  the  Supreme  Court,  composed  of 
seven  Judges,  sits  at  different  periods  of  the  year. 
So  simple  and  clear  is  the  arrangement  of  the  courts 
that  we  shall  have  little  difficulty  in  understand- 
ing it. 

Laws. — We  cannot  expect  to  understand  the  law 
so  easily.  That  is  the  business  of  a  lawyer.  If  you 
wish  to  be  a  good  lawyer,  you  must  expect  to  spend 
several  years  in  study  at  a  school  of  law.  Some  of 
the  more  common  terms,  only,  will  be  explained  in 
this  book. 

Custom  no  longer  governs  here.  All  rights;  and 
wrongs,  both  civil  and  criminal,  are  written  out  in 
the  laws.  The  remedies  for  civil  wrongs  are  stated 
and  the  punishments  for  crimes  definitely  fixed. 

These  laws  are  grouped  into  collections,  or  codes, 
so  that  we  have  the  Penal,  or  Criminal  Code,  the 
Civil  Code,  and  the  Code  of  Civil  Procedure,  that  is, 
how  causes  shall  be  brought  to  a  court  and  how  the 
trial  shall  be  conducted. 

Kinds  of  Courts. — The  Justice  Courts,  in  every 
town,  the  Courts  of  First  Instance,  in  every  prov- 
ince, and  the  Supreme  Court  are  the  principal  courts. 
By  them  almost  every  cause  arising  in  the  Islands 
is  tried  and  settled.     There  are  also  some  special 


180  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

courts,  such  as  the  Police  Courts  in  Manila,  which 
try  offenses  against  the  city  ordinances  of  Manila; 
the  Court  of  Land  Claims;  and  the  President's 
Courts  in  every  town,  which  we  have  already  de- 
scribed. The  last  try  violations  of  municipal  ordi- 
nances only. 

Jurisdiction. — A  criminal  action  may  be  brought 
to  punish  a  criminal  for  cutting  a  tree  on  public 
land  without  license,  or  for  some  grave  crime,  such 
as  murder.  A  civil  action  may  be  to  collect  a 
$5  debt,  or  to  get  back  lands  worth  thousands  of 
dollars.  Thus  actions  or  causes  are  very  different 
in  gravity,  in  importance  or  in  the  amount  of  prop- 
erty involved.  Causes  are  distributed  to  the  differ- 
ent courts  on  this  basis,  the  minor  causes  to  the 
Justice  Courts  the  more  serious  ones  to  the  Courts 
of  First  Instance. 

Now,  the  word  jurisdiction  is  used  when  we  wish 
to  speak  of  the  power  of  a  court  to  try  causes.  Can 
this  court  try  this  action?  Does  the  law  provide 
that  such  an  action  as  this  shall  be  tried  by  this 
court?  These  questions  mean  the  same  as  the 
question,  Is  this  action  in  the  jurisdiction  of  this 
court?  The  laws  fix  the  limits  of  the  jurisdiction  of 
each  court,  that  is,  they  say  what  causes  shall  be 
tried  in  each  court. 


COURTS  181 

There  are  four  adjectives  sometimes  used  with 
the  word  jurisdiction,  original,  appellate,  concurrent 
and  exclusive. 

There  are  causes  which  may  be  tried  by  the  Jus- 
tice of  the  Peace,  for  example,  and  if  either  side  is 
not  satisfied  with  the  decision  of  the  Justice  the  cause 
may  be  taken  to  the  Court  of  First  Instance 
to  be  tried  again.  This  is  called  appealing  to  a 
higher  court.  Appellate  jurisdiction,  then,  means 
the  power  to  try  a  case  again,  or  partly  try  it 
again,  when  it  is  appealed  from  a  lower  court.  Or- 
iginal jurisdiction  means  the  power  to  try  for  the 
first  time.  An  action  must  begin  in  a  court  which 
has  original  jurisdiction.  Sometimes  an  action  may 
by  law  begin  in  either  of  two  courts,  then  we  say 
that  the  two  courts  have  concurrent  jurisdiction. 
When  an  action  can  be  begun  in  one  court  only,  we 
say  that  that  court  has  exclusive  jurisdiction. 

If  you  understand  all  these  difficult  words  you 
can  understand  the  different  powers  of  the  Justice 
Courts,  the  Court  of  First  Instance,  and  the  Su- 
preme Court  as  they  are  stated  in  the  following  para- 
graphs. 

The  Justice  Court  and  Its  Jurisdiction. — In  a  Jus- 
tice Court  the  Judge  is  called  a  Justice  of  the  Peace. 
There  is  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  in  every  town,  and 


182  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

an  auxiliary  who  acts  during  the  absence  or  illness 
of  the  Justice. 

Simply  stated,  the  Justice  of  the  Peace  can  try 
only  petty  criminal  causes,  as  small  theft,  assault 
on  a  person,  trespass  upon  lands  and  small  civil 
causes,  in  which  the  value  of  the  property  in  dispute, 
or  the  amount  of  damages  claimed  is  no  more 
than  $300.  Strictly  speaking,  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  Justice  in  criminal  causes  includes  all  offenses 
for  which  the  law  fixes  a  penalty  of  imprisonment 
for  no  more  than  six  months  or  of  a  fine  of  no  more 
than  $100. 

Any  cause  may  be  appealed  from  a  Justice  Court 
to  the  Court  of  First  Instance,  if  either  party  de- 
sires to  do  so.  An  appeal  must  be  made  within  two 
hours  and  in  the  right  form  according  to  the  rules  of 
the  court. 

Preliminary  Hearing  of  All  Crimes. — One  of  the 
chief  duties  of  the  Justice  of  the  Peace  is  to  give 
preliminary  hearing  to  all  persons  accused  of 
crimes,  small  or  great.  Any  one  may  go  to  the  Jus- 
tice and  complain  under  oath  that  a  certain  person 
has  committed  a  certain  crime,  or  if  the  Justice  be- 
lieves with  reasonable  certainty  that  a  crime  has 
been. committed  in  the  town  by  any  person,  it  is  his 
duty   to    order,  the    accused    person   arrested    and 


COURTS  183 

brought  before  him,  and  to  examine  him  and  wit- 
nesses to  decide  whether  it  is  or  is  not  probable  that 
the  accused  has  committed  the  crime  charged.  If 
he  finds  that  guilt  is  not  probable  he  sets  the  ac- 
cused free.  If  he  finds  that  guilt  is  probable,  he 
holds  him  for  trial,  or  lets  him  go  on  bail.  If  the 
offense  charged  is  one  in  his  jurisdiction,  he  will 
also  hold  the  trial  to  decide  the  guilt  or  innocence 
of  the  accused,  and  if  he  finds  him  guilty,  he  will  sen- 
tence him.  If  the  offense  charged  is  not  one  in  his 
jurisdiction  the  trial  will  be  held  in  the  Court  of 
First  Instance,  when  it  hol'ds  a  session  in  the  prov- 
ince. Thus  while  the  Justice  has  jurisdiction  to  try 
only  small  offenses,  he  has  jurisdiction  to  make  pre- 
liminary examination  of  any  crime  whatever.  The 
Court  of  First  Instance  may  also  give  this  prelim- 
inary hearing,  but  the  Court  of  First  Instance  is  not 
in  session  all  of  the  time,  and  its  sessions  are  held 
in  the  capital  of  the  province.  The  Justice  is  always 
in  the  town.  His  court  is  always  open.  No  man 
need  be  held  a  prisoner  more  than  a  few  hours  be- 
fore he  is  brought  in  for  his  preliminary  examina- 
tion. So  great  a  right  is  this  considered  that  the  law 
provides  that  if  both  the  Justice  and  his  auxiliary 
should  be  sick,  absent,  or  unable  to  hold  court,  the 


184  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

President  of  the  town  may  give  preliminary  hear- 
ing to  any  accused  person. 

Other  Officials  of  the  Justice  Court. — Every 
court  has  an  official  called  the  "  Officer  of  the 
Court."  It  is  his  duty  to  see  that  the  sentence  of 
the  court  is  carried  out.  If  the  accused  is  found  in- 
nocent, the  officer  sets  him  free;  if  guilty,  the  offi- 
cer sees  that  he  pays  the  fine  or  takes  him  to  jail 
according  to  the  sentence.  If  it  is  a  civil  action,  and 
the  sentence  is  that  A  shall  pay  B  $100  damages, 
the  officer  receives  the  money  from  A  and  pays  it 
to  B.  If  A  does  not  give  the  money,  the  officer  may, 
on  the  order  of  the  Judge,  sell  some  of  A's  property 
to  get  the  amount  for  B.  The  officer  of  the  Justice 
Court  is  a  deputy  of  the  Provincial  Governor.  For 
some  minor  acts,  as  ordering  witnesses  to  come  to 
the  court,  the  Justice  may  appoint  any  man,  or  use 
a  policeman. 

The  Justice  receives  no  salary.  He  receives  a  fee 
of  $3  for  every  cause  that  he  tries,  civil  or  criminal. 
The  person  who  wins  in  a  civil  action  pays  the 
fee  to  the  Justice,  but  it  is  charged  against  the  loser, 
and  if  the  latter  has  any  property  he  really  has  to 
pay  it.  In  a  criminal  action,  the  municipality  pays 
the  fee;  if  the  accused  party  is  found  innocent  he 
goes  free,  of  course,  without  paying  anything,  and 


COURTS  185 

the  money  comes  out  of  the  pockets  of  the  people 
as  taxes;  but  if  the  accused  is  found  guilty  he  has 
to  pay  the  fee,  the  costs,  and  the  fine,  also,  if  he  is 
fined. 

Courts  of  First  Instance. — There  is  a  Court  of 
First  Instance  in  every  province,  which  Is  in  ses- 
sion, as  we  have  learned,  at  certain  times  of  the 
year.  The  officials  of  the  court  are  the  Judge,  the 
Officer  of  the  Court,  the  Clerk,  and  the  Fiscal. 

The  Officer  of  the  Court  is  the  Governor  of  the 
province  or  his  deputy.  The  Clerk  of  the  Court 
keeps  all  the  records  of  the  court.  We  have  already 
described  the  duties  of  the  Fiscal.  There  is  a  Clerk 
for  the  court  of  each  province,  and  the  Governor  and 
Fiscal  serve  only  in  the  court  of  their  province.  The 
Judge  serves  in  more  than  one  province;  some 
Judges  have  as  many  as  four  courts  in  as  many 
provinces,  traveling  from  one  province  to  another 
and  holding  sessions  in  each  at  different  times  of 
the  year.  When  the  Judge  enters  a  province  he  is 
received  and  entertained  by  the  Governor  and  all 
honor  is  shown  him. 

Jurisdiction  of  the  Court  of  First  Instance. — Sim- 
ply stated,  the  Court  of  First  Instance  tries  all 
causes  which  may  not  be  tried  in  the  Justice  Courts, 
in  the  President's  Courts  or  in  the  Police  Courts, 


186  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

and  all  causes  which  having  been  tried  in  these 
lower  courts  have  been  appealed  from  them. 

More  exactly  stated,  the  original  jurisdiction  of 
the  Court  of  First  Instance  includes : 

i.  Civil  actions  about  the  title  to  real  property. 
)    2.  Actions  about  the  legality  of  any  tax. 

3.  All  civil  actions  in  which  the  amount  involved 
is  more  than  $100.  In  actions  involving  amounts 
between  $100  and  $300  the  Court  of  First  Instance 
and  the  Justice  Court  have  concurrent  jurisdiction. 

4.  All  maritime  or  admiralty  causes,  great  or 
small. 

5.  All  probate  causes,  that  is,  causes  relating  to 
wills,  estates,  divorce,  etc. 

6.  All  criminal  causes  in  which  the  penalty  may 
be  more  than  eight  months'  imprisonment,  or  a 
fine  of  more  than  $100. 

The  appellate  jurisdiction  of  the  Court  of  First 
Instance  extends  to  all  causes  coming  from  the 
lower  courts  on  appeal. 

Trials. — It  is  in  the  Court  of  First  Instance  that 
the  most  careful  and  most  formal  trial  is  held.  All 
evidence  is  taken  down  in  writing  and  preserved. 
A  complete  record  is  made  of  everything  that  is 
done. 


COURTS  187 

The  trial  described  in  the  next  chapter  is  such  a 
one  as  is  held  in  the  Court  of  First  Instance. 

The  Supreme  Court. — The  Supreme  Court,  as  its 
name  indicates,  is  the  highest  court  of  the  islands. 
It  is  composed  of  a  Chief  Justice  and  six  Associate 
Judges.  These  six  Judges  are  chosen  for  their  great 
learning  in  the  law,  impartiality  and  honesty.. 

We  have  called  the  Supreme  Court  an  august 
tribunal,  for,  indeed,  it  is  the  solemn  and  dignified 
body  that  makes  final  judgment  upon  almost  all 
causes  that  are  brought  before  it.  It  gives  the 
final  interpretation  or  meaning  to  the  laws.  The 
Civil  Governor  cannot  change  its  decisions.  The 
decisions  are  final.  The  law-makers  of  the  Central 
Government  may  change  the  laws  but  they  cannot 
change  the  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court.  The 
judiciary  is  independent  of  the  executive  and  the 
law-making  branches  of  the  government. 

How  the  Supreme  Court  Tries  Causes. — The  seven 
Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  do  not  sit  separately, 
each  hearing  a  different  cause,  as  do  the  Judges  in 
the  Court  of  First  Instance.  Instead,  they  all  sit 
together  and  hear  the  same  cause,  one  cause  at  a 
time.  The  seven  Judges  sit  in  a  stately  row  behind 
a  long  bench.  The  Chief  Justice  sits  in  the  middle 
and  is  the  President  of  the  Court.    The  causes  that 


188  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

the  Court  tries  are  nearly  all  causes  that  have  been 
tried  before  in  a  Court  of  First  Instance.  In  the 
lower  Court  the  witnesses  were  heard  and  the  testi- 
mony was  taken  down  in  writing.  This  testimony  is 
brought  into  the  Supreme  Court  and  hence  it  is 
not  necessary  to  call  and  examine  witnesses,  though 
this  may  be  done  if  the  Judges  desire  it.  Also, 
the  arguments  of  the  lawyers  are  usually  presented 
in  writing.  These  written  arguments  are  called 
briefs.  The  Supreme  Court  seldom  decides  about  the 
facts  of  a  cause.  Causes  are  appealed  to  the  Su- 
preme Court  because  one  side  thinks  that  the  Judge 
of  the  Court  of  First  Instance  did  not  apply  the 
law  correctly  in  some  part  of  the  proceedings  of 
the  trial,  or  in  his  decision. 

The  seven  Judges  read  the  records  of  the  trial, 
the  testimony  and  the  briefs,  and  if  they  decide  that 
the  trial  was  correctly  conducted,  that  the  Judge 
applied  the  law  rightly  and  his  decision  was  in 
accordance  with  the  law,  they  affirm  the  decision; 
if  not,  they  may  either  reverse  the  decision  of  the 
Court  of  First  Instance  or  order  the  cause  to  be 
tried  again. 

Decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court. — Five  Judges 
of  the  Supreme  Court  are  a  quorum.  Four  Judges, 
or  a  majority  of  the  Court,  must  agree,  to  make  any 


COURTS  189 

decision.  The  Court's  decision  in  every  cause  is 
written.  The  decisions  are  printed  in  volumes  called 
"Reports,"  which  the  Judges  of  the  lower  Courts 
and  the  lawyers  read  with  care,  for  the  decisions  of 
the  Supreme  Court  determine  the  meaning  of  the 
laws  and  how  they  shall  be  applied. 

How  the  Courts  Interpret  the  Laws. — We  have 
said  that  the  judicial  branch  of  the  government, 
or  the  judiciary,  interprets  the  laws.  Do  not  un- 
derstand by  that,  that  whenever  a  law  is  made 
the  Judges  write  long  essays  to  explain  what  the 
law  means ;  when  a  law  is  made,  the  Judges  pay  no 
more  attention  to  it  than  any  good  citizen  should. 

Suppose  a  municipality  makes  a  law  to  collect  an 
illegal  tax,  that  is,  a  tax  which  the  Municipal  Code 
does  not  give  the  Council  the  right  to  levy.  The 
Judges  say  nothing.  Most  people  probably  are 
willing  to  pay  the  tax;  they  may  think  it  is  wrong 
but  do  not  want  any  trouble.  Some  man 
who  is  really  sure  that  the  tax  is  unlawful  says  "  I'll 
not  pay  it."  The  tax  collector  tries  to  collect  it. 
The  citizen  refuses  to  pay.  Then  the  tax  collector 
begins  an  action  in  a  Court  of  First  Instance,  in 
this  case,  to  sell  some  of  the  citizen's  property 
to  pay  the  tax.  The  citizen's  lawyer  says  that  the 
tax  is  illegal  and  that  the  law  is  void.     And  this 


190  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

is  how  the  Court  comes  to  consider  the  law.  Now, 
whatever  decision  the  Judge  of  the  Court  of  First 
Instance  makes  is  not  final.  Both  sides  may  be 
satisfied  in  this  particular  action  and  not  appeal. 
But,  if  they  want  a  really  final  decision,  they  can 
appeal  to  the  Supreme  Court.  So  it  is  that  the 
Supreme  Court  makes  the  final  interpretation  of 
the  laws.  A  Court  considers  a  law  only  when 
some  man  says  that  he  has  been  injured  and  brings 
a  cause  into  Court  which  involves  the  law. 

Sometimes  laws  are  wrongly  applied,  or  an  illegal 
law  is  made  and  nothing  is  done  for  a  long  time, 
until  at  last  some  man  complains.  There  is  always 
this  part  to  be  done  by  the  people. 

This  example  is  a  very  clear  one  to  explain  the 
principle,  but  it  does  not  show  the  most  common 
way  in  which  the  Courts  interpret  the  laws.  Courts 
are  always  doing  this;  whenever  a  judge  makes  a 
decision  it  is  the  same  as  saying:  This  is  what  the 
law  says  and  this  is  the  way  it  is  to  be  applied 
in  conditions  and  facts  like  these.  Every  decision 
of  a  Court  is  an  interpretation  of  the  law. 

Where  the  Supreme  Court  Sits. — The  Sessions  of 
the  Supreme  Court  are  held  in  Manila,  in  Cebu 
and  in  Iloilo,  at  different  times  of  the  year.     All 


COURTS  191 

seven  Judges  travel  to  these  places  and  hold  Court 
in  the  same  way  at  one  place  as  at  another. 

Officials  of  the  Supreme  Court. — The  Chief  Jus- 
tice is  the  President  of  the  Court.  When  any  vote 
is  taken  he  has  duties  like  the  town  President  in 
a  council  meeting.  He  has  a  vote  also.  Besides 
the  Chief  Justice  and  the  six  Associate  Judges,  there 
are  other  officials  of  the  Supreme  Court:  the  Clerk, 
the  Officer  of  the  Court,  the  Solicitor  General  and 
the  Reporter,  with  their  assistants. 

The  Officer  of  the  Court  when  it  sits  in  Manila 
is  the  Sheriff.  When  at  Iloilo  and  Cebu,  the  Officer 
of  the  Court  is  the  Governor  of  the  province  in 
which  the  session  is  held. 

The  Solicitor  General  is  the  government's  attor- 
ney, like  the  Fiscal  in  the  Court  of  First  Instance. 
In  all  criminal  actions,  or  civil  actions  in  which 
the  government  is  a  party,  he  is  the  lawyer  on  the 
government  side  and  prepares  the  briefs,  or  argu- 
ments to  present  to  the  Supreme  Court. 

The  Reporter  of  the  Supreme  Court  collects  the 
decisions,  indexes  them  and  has  them  published  in 
volumes. 

The  Attorney  General  is  another  law  official  who 
gives  advice  to  the  Governor,  the  Secretaries  and 
other  officials  about  questions  of  law.     His  opin- 


192  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

ions  have  no  legal  force  like  the  decisions  of  the 
Supreme  Court;    they  are  simply  advice. 

How  Judicial  Officers  are  Chosen. — The  Chief 
Justice  and  the  Associate  Judges  of  the  Supreme 
Court  are  appointed  by  the  President  of  the  United 
States  with  the  consent  of  the  United  States  Sen- 
ate. 

All  of  the  other  officials  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
the  Judges  of  the  Court  of  First  Instance,  the  Clerks, 
the  Fiscals  and  the  Justices  of  the  Peace  are  ap- 
pointed by  the  Civil  Governor  with  the  consent  of 
the  Commission. 

Terms  of  Office. — Judicial  officers  have  no  fixed 
terms  of  office.  They  serve  during  the  pleasure  of 
the  Commission,  and  the  custom  is  that  they  con- 
tinue in  office  as  long  as  they  perform  their  duties 
well. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

HOW   A   CRIMINAL  IS   ARRESTED,   TRIED  AND   PUNISHED. 

At  first  thought  it  would  seem  a  very  simple  mat- 
ter to  punish  a  criminal.  Indeed  the  punishment  of 
a  criminal  is  easy  enough ;  the  government  has 
more  than  enough  power  for  that.  The  difficult  thing 
is  to  make  sure  that  the  person  accused  really  is 
a  criminal,  that  he  is  actually  guilty.  As  important 
as  it  is  to  punish  criminals  for  the  great  harm  they 
do,  the  government  is  very  careful  to  be  sure. 
When  there  is  doubt,  the  government  will  not  pun- 
ish. Why?  Because  one  of  the  chief  purposes  of 
government  is  to  secure  to  every  man  his  life,  liber- 
ty and  property.  If  the  government  were  quick  to 
punish  and  should  punish  an  innocent  man,  this 
purpose  would  be  defeated.  Good  government  must 
be  just.  Hence,  in  trying  an  accused  man  every 
advantage  is  given  him  to  free  himself. 

He  is  considered  innocent  until  he  is  proven 
guilty.  He  does  not  have  to  prove  his  innocence. 
The  officials  must  prove  him  guilty  beyond  a  rea- 
sonable doubt.  Consequently,  there  are  two  sides 
to  the  things  to  be  studied  in  this  chapter:    (i) 

(193) 


194  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

How  the  criminal  is  caught,  tried  and  punished. 
(2)  The  many  things  that  are  done  to  avoid  pun- 
ishing an  innocent  man. 

Arrest. — When  a  crime  has  been  committed  the 
first  question  always  is :  Who  has  done  this  ?  The 
welfare  of  our  town,  our  province  and  our  country 
demands  that  the  guilty  one  shall  be  arrested.  Ar- 
rests may  be  accomplished  in  different  ways:  (1) 
If  any  one  catches  a  criminal  in  the  act,  he  may 
arrest  him  at  once  and  take  him  before  a  magis- 
trate or  call  a  policeman  or  some  other  peace 
officer.  (2)  It  is  not  necessary  to  actually  see 
the  crime  committed.  If  any  policeman,  constable 
or  other  peace  officer  is  reasonably  certain  who  is 
guilty  he  must  arrest  the  suspected  person.  He 
may  do  so  without  a  warrant.  (3)  A  warrant  is 
an  order  written  by  a  Justice  of  the  Peace,  or  by 
a  Judge  directing  a  peace  officer  to  arrest  the  person 
named  in  it.  Any  one  who  knows  of  a  crime  and 
is  reasonably  certain  who  is  guilty  may  go  before 
a  magistrate  and  make  a  statement  of  the  facts  on 
oath  and  the  magistrate  will  issue  a  warrant  to 
arrest  the  accused.  (4)  While  every  good  citizen 
should  give  such  information  whenever  he  can, 
it  is  the  duty  of  the  Fiscal.    Whenever  he  knows  of 


CRIMINAL  PROCEDURE  195 

a  crime  and  is  reasonably  certain  who  is  the  guilty- 
person  he  must  go  to  a  magistrate  and  get  a  warrant 
sent  out  for  his  arrest. 

Extradition. — When  a  man  has  committed  a  crime 
he  may  think  to  escape  by  fleeing  to  another  coun- 
try. But  nearly  all  countries  have  a  way  of  help- 
ing each  other  catch  criminals  by  a  process  called  ex- 
tradition. The  government  of  the  country  where  the 
crime  is  committed  requests  the  government  of  the 
country  to  which  the  criminal  has  fled  to  arrest  him, 
The  latter  orders  him  arrested  and  sent  back.  This 
order  is  called  a  writ  of  extradition. 

Examination. — As  soon  as  possible  after  his  ar- 
rest, the  accused  man  must  be  brought  before 
a  magistrate  for  examination.  This  is  not  the  trial 
to  decide  whether  he  is  innocent  or  guilty.  The 
trial  comes  later.  This  examination  is  held  by  the 
magistrate  to  see  if  there  are  good  reasons  for 
holding  the  man  for  trial. 

The  magistrate  orders  the  clerk  to  read  the  ac- 
cusation to  the  accused.  The  accusation  must  be 
clear,  telling  exactly  what  crime  is  charged  against 
him,  where,  when  and  how  it  is  said  to  have  been 
committed.  A  few  witnesses  are  called  and  tell 
what  they  know  about  the  crime. 

This   examination  is  held  for  two  reasons:    (i)v 


196  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

To  let  the  accused  know  exactly  what  is  charged 
against  him  not  only  by  the  reading  of  the  accusa- 
tion but  out  of  the  mouths  of  witnesses  also.  (2) 
To  enable  the  magistrate  to  answer  this  question: 
Is  it  probable  that  this  person  has  committed  this 
crime  ?  If  the  magistrate  decides  that  guilt  is  prob- 
able, the  accused  is  held  for  trial. 

If  the  accused  desires  to  do  so,  he  may  testify 
to  show  his  innocence.  A  clear  story  often  frees 
an  accused  man.  If  the  accused  does  not  want 
to  testify  he  cannot  be  compelled  to  do  so. 

This  right  of  every  accused  man  to  be  brought 
before  a  magistrate  for  examination  as  soon  as 
possible  after  his  arrest  is  one  of  our  great  civil 
liberties.  As  soon  as  possible  usually  means  within 
twenty-four  hours.  Formerly  men  could  be  ar- 
rested and  held  in  jail  for  weeks  and  months  without 
being  brought  before  a  magistrate.  Rulers  used 
this  power  unjustly  and  people  were  imprisoned 
without  trial.    Our  law  does  not  permit  this. 

Habeas  Corpus. — If  a  man  is  held  in  jail  longer 
than  is  proper  or  if  he  thinks  that  he  is  not  legally 
held,  he  may  ask  a  court  to  investigate  and  see  if 
he  is  legally  held  or  not.  This  is  called  suing  out 
a  writ  of  habeas  corpus.  This  is  considered  one 
of  the  great  safeguards  to  personal  liberty.   It  came 


CRIMINAL  PROCEDURE  197 

into  use  when  Latin  was  used  in  English  courts 
and  still  has  its  Latin  name.  The  Judge  who  is 
appealed  to  sends  an  order  to  the  person  who  "  has 
the  body  "  of  the  man  to  bring  him  into  court  and 
show  a  good  cause  for  holding  him.  If  he  is  not 
legally  held  he  must  be  set  free. 

Right  to  Speedy  Trial.— The  trial  of  the  accused 
may  not  come  for  a  month  or  more.  If  it  is  for 
an  offense  which  may  be  tried  before  a  Justice  of 
the  Peace,  the  delay  need  not  be  long.  If  it  is  for 
an  offense  which  can  be  tried  only  by  the  Court  of 
First  Instance,  the  accused  must  be  held  until  the 
Court  is  in  session,  when  the  trial  will  come  in  its 
proper  order.  The  right  to  trial  as  soon  as  possible 
is  dear  to  every  liberty-loving  people,  second  to  the 
right  of  examination  as  soon  as  possible. 

Bail. — Holding  the  accused  for  trial  sometimes 
means  keeping  him  in  jail.  Usually  it  means  giving 
him  his  liberty  on  bail.  Bail  is  surety  for  the 
appearance  of  the  accused  before  the  court  on  the 
day  of  trial.  It  is  a  sum  of  money,  the  amount  of 
which  is  fixed  by  the  magistrate,  deposited  with 
the  magistrate,  or  promised  in  writing  by  men  of 
property.  If  the  accused  does  not  come  into  court 
on  the  day  set,  the  money  is  forfeited  to  the  gov- 
ernment. 


198  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

The  accused  cannot  have  bail  if  accused  of  mur- 
der or  treason,  but  for  all  other  crimes  he  may. 

Trial. — Let  us  suppose  that  a  man  has  been  ar- 
rested, charged  with  committing  a  crime.  He  has 
been  examined  by  the  Justice  of  the  Peace;  after 
the  examination  the  Justice  has  decided  that  it  is 
probable  that  he  has  committed  the  offense  charged. 
The  Justice  fixed  the  amount  of  his  bail  at  $300. 
Two  or  three  of  his  friends  signed  a  paper  prom- 
ising to  pay  this  amount  if  the  accused  should 
not  come  into  court  on  the  right  day.  The  accused 
then  went  freely  about  his  business.  He  hired 
a  lawyer  and  they  prepared  for  the  trial.  If  he 
could  not  give  bail  he  was  taken  to  jail.  We 
shall  suppose  that  his  trial  is  to  be  in  a  Court  of 
First  Instance.  As  soon  as  the  court  is  in  session 
in  the  province  where  the  crime  was  committed, 
he  comes  into  court;  if  he  has  been  in  jail,  he  is 
brought  into  court  by  the  Governor  or  his  deputy. 
The  Judge  sits  behind  a  bench,  which  we  often 
call  the  bar  of  justice.  At  a  table  is  the  Clerk  of 
the  Court,  who  keeps  the  records  and  court  papers. 

The  accused  comes  before  the  Judge  to  plead 
again.  The  Clerk  reads  the  charge  or  accusation  to 
him,  and  the  Judge  asks  him  to  plead  "  guilty  "  or 
"not  guilty." 


CRIMINAL  PROCEDURE  199 

If  he  replies  "  guilty  "  there  is  nothing  more  to 
do  than  to  sentence  him  according  to  the  law ;  usu- 
ally to  fine  or  imprison  him.  If  he  replies  "  not 
guilty  "  the  Judge  announces  the  day  upon  which 
the  trial  will  be  held. 

The  Day  of  the  Trial  Arrives. — The  accused  comes 
into  court  with  his  lawyer  or  lawyers  and  his  wit- 
nesses, ready  to  defend  himself  and  to  clear  himself 
if  he  can  from  the  accusation.  The  Fiscal  comes  with 
witnesses  to  prove  him  guilty.  The  Fiscal  is  the 
lawyer  against  the  accused,  because,  as  we  have 
learned,  all  crimes  are  considered  as  committed 
against  society  and  it  is  the  duty  of  the  government, 
or  the  officials,  to  punish  criminals. 

If  this  were  a  civil  action,  for  example,  in  which 
A  was  trying  to  make  B  pay  him  a  debt,  both  A 
and  B  would  have  to  hire  their  lawyers,  and  one  or 
the  other  would  have  to  pay  all  the  costs  of  the  trial. 
In  such  a  case  A  would  be  called  the  plaintiff,  the 
one  who  complains,  and  B  the  defendant. 

But  this  is  a  criminal  action.  The  accused  man  is 
the  defendant;   the  government  is  the  plaintiff. 

The  Plaintiff's  or  the  Government's  Side.— The 
trial  begins  with  a  speech  by  the  Fiscal.  He  states 
clearly  an  outline  of  the  circumstances  of  the 
crime  as  he   supposes   it  to  have  happened,   telling 


200  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

what  he  is  going  to  prove  by  his  witnesses.  Then 
his  principal  witness  is  called.  He  takes  the  wit- 
ness stand;  that  is,  he  comes  forward  to  a  chair 
in  front  of  the  Court.  He  stands,  holds  up  his 
right  hand  and  takes  the  oath.  The  Clerk  delivers 
the  oath :  "  You  solemnly  swear  to  tell  the  truth, 
the  whole  truth  and  nothing  but  the  truth."  If, 
after  taking  this  oath,  the  witness  tells  a  lie,  he  is 
guilty  of  the  crime  called  perjury  and  may  be  fined 
or  imprisoned  for  it. 

The  Fiscal  asks  questions  and  the  witness  an- 
swers. Question  follows  question,  for  it  is  the 
answers  to  questions  that  furnish  all  the  testimony. 
When  the  Fiscal  has  got  from  the  witness  all  the 
information  that  he  wants  from  him,  the  defendant's 
lawyer  may  ask  him  questions.  This  is  called  the 
cross-examination,  and  is  to  test  the  truth  or  con- 
sistency of  the  witness'  testimony,  or  to  bring  out 
new  facts  on  his  side. 

Defendant's  Side. — When  the  witnesses  for  the 
government  have  all  given  testimony,  a  witness 
for  the  defense  is  called.  The  defendant's  lawyer 
questions  him  first.  Then  the  Fiscal  may  cross- 
examine  him.  This  process  continues  until  all  the 
witnesses  have  testified. 

If  the   accused   wishes   to   testify  he   may   do   so. 


CRIMINAL  PROCEDURE  201 

If  he  takes  the  stand,  he  may  be  cross-examined  by 
the  Fiscal  like  the  other  witnesses.  If  he  does  not 
wish  to  testify  he  may  refuse  and  his  refusal  will 
not  be  considered  against  him  by  the  Judge.  The 
Judge,  in  all  the  trial,  keeps  clearly  in  mind  that 
the  accused  must  be  considered  innocent  until  he 
is  proved  guilty. 

Argument. — After  all  the  witnesses  have  been 
heard  the  Fiscal  makes  a  speech,  giving  a  summary 
of  all  the  testimony  which  tends  to  prove  the 
accused  guilty.  This  is  followed  by  a  speech  from 
the  defendant's  lawyer,  who  argues  that  the  testi- 
mony has  not  been  sufficient  to  show  that  the  ac- 
cused is*  guilty.  Sometimes,  when  the  defendant 
sees  that  the  evidence  is  clearly  against  him,  his 
lawyer  tries  merely  to  show  that  the  crime  was  not 
so  serious  as  is  charged,  in  order  to  influence  the 
Judge  to  give  a  light  sentence. 

Decision  and  Sentence. — The  trial  ends  with 
the  decision  and  the  sentence.  When  he  has  heard 
all  the  evidence  and  the  arguments,  the  Judge  de- 
cides the  accused  guilty  or  innocent.  If  he  decides 
him  innocent,  he  sets  him  free  at  once.  If  he  decides 
the  accused  guilty,  he  will  sentence  him  according 
to  the  law.  That  is,  he  will  declare  what  the  pen- 
alty for  the  crime  is  and  order  that  the  criminal 


202  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

which  we  may  now  call  him,  shall  suffer  the  pen- 
alty. There  are  usually  circumstances  in  the  com- 
mitting of  a  crime  that  make  it  grave  or  light,  and 
the  law  usually  fixes  a  range  of  penalties  for  each 
crime  in  order  that  the  Judge  may  fit  the  punish- 
ment according  to  hi«s  discretion. 

Punishment. — It  is  the  duty  of  the  Governor  or 
his  deputy,  or,  in  the  City  of  Manila,  of  the  Sheriff, 
to  see  that  the  condemned  criminal  is  put  in  prison, 
pays  the  fine,  or  is  put  to  death,  according  to  the 
sentence  of  the  Judge.  This  is  called  executing 
the  sentence. 

Small  Offenses. — The  long,  careful  process  of 
trial  which  has  just  been  described  is  followed  in 
trying  crimes.  There  are  many  small  offenses,  vio- 
lations of  city  ordinances,  such  as  drunkenness  on 
the  streets,  driving  a  carromata  at  night  without  a 
light,  or  the  like,  which  are  punished  much  more 
summarily.  The  police  arrest  the  offenders  and 
bring  them  into  the  President's  Court,  usually  the 
same  day  or  the  next.  A  brief  hearing  is  given 
and  the  sentence  is  declared. 

In  Manila  such  courts  are  called  Police  Courts 
and  the  Judges,  Police  Judges.  In  such  cases  the 
penalties  are  usually  a  few  dollars'  fine,  or  a  few 
days  in  jail. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

SOME  PRINCIPLES  OF  POPULAR  GOVERNMENT. 

Majority  Rule. — Government  by  the  people  is 
possible  only  when  all  of  the  people  are  willing  to 
submit  to  the  rule  "of  the  majority.  Either  the  people 
themselves  or  their  representatives  decide  all  ques- 
tions. All  decisions  are  made  by  voting.  If  there 
are  two  or  more  sides  to  a  question  the  side  re- 
ceiving the  largest  number  of  votes  wins.  In  popu- 
lar government  we  must  have  faith  in  the  intelli- 
gence of  the  common  people.  What  the  majority  of 
the  people  want  must  be  accepted.  If  the  minority 
refuses  to  accept  the  decision  of  the  majority  there 
will  be  revolution  and  an  end  to  the  government. 
If  the  false  principle  that  the  minority  may  rebel 
from  the  rule  of  the  majority  were  once  admitted, 
there  would  be  no  end  to  rebellion ;  there  would  be 
anarchy. 

All  reforms  of  government  come  by  gradual 
changes,  by  evolution  and  not  by  revolution.  If 
the  minority  defeated  at  an  election  still  believes 
that  its  cause  is  just  it  must  patiently  submit  and 
wait.     Truth   will   win    in    the   end.     The   people 

(203) 


204  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

may  be  trusted  to  see  the  truth  if  time  is  given 
them.  In  course  of  time  the  minority  will  gain 
more  votes  and  become  the  majority  and  its  policy 
will  then  rule.  The  orderly  contests  at  the  ballot- 
box  are  just  as  decisive  as  are  the  battles  of  bloody 
revolution,  but  the  former  are  without  the  misery 
and  ruin  that  the  latter  bring  upon  a  country. 

The  rule  of  the  majority  means  that  those  who  dis- 
agree with  the  prevailing  policy  of  the  government 
must  present  their  case,  bring  out  their  arguments, 
expose  the  wrongfulness  of  the  prevailing  policy 
and  wait  until  enough  voters  come  over  to  their 
side  to  overthrow  that  policy  at  the  ballot-box. 

Rights  of  the  Minority. — When  a  party  comes 
into  power  with  a  large  majority  it  is  natural  for  it 
to  feel  little  or  no  restraint.  The  opposition,  or 
the  minority,  seems  too  weak  to  be  feared.  Yet 
the  leaders  of  the  majority  should  be  ready  to  give 
a  fair  hearing  to  the  arguments  of  the  minority. 
Ours  is  a  government  of  all  the  people  and  if  the 
majority  is  overbearing  and  ruthless  it  is  sure  to 
be  punished  by  losing  the  confidence  of  the  peo- 
ple. 

The  Conservative  and  the  Radical. — In  every  so- 
ciety we  find  two  extreme  classes  of  men,  the  con- 
servative and  the  radical.    The  extreme  conserva- 


SOME  PRINCIPLES  OF  GOVERNMENT        205 

tive  is  the  man  who  says  that  our  present  cus- 
toms and  present  forms  of  government  are  good 
and  ought  to  be  preserved  just  as  they  are.  He 
loves  the  good  old  times,  the  good  old  customs  and 
the  good  old  laws.  The  extreme  radical,  on  the 
other  hand,  is  the  man  who  is  always  ready  for 
change.  Every  new  idea  that  is  suggested  seems 
to  him  better  than  the  old.  He  wants  to  change  at 
once,  to  overturn  the  old  and  set  up  the  new.  Con- 
servatism is  the  force  that  preserves  society.  Radi- 
calism is  the  force  that  brings  progress.  If  all  men 
were  extreme  conservatives  society  would  never 
change  and  would  never  grow  better.  If  all  men 
were  extreme  radicals  changes  would  come  so  often 
that  the  people  would  hardly  learn  to  obey  the 
present  laws  by  the  time  that  they  were  replaced 
hy  new  ones.  Society  would  be  upset  and  de- 
moralized by  the  frequent  changes.  Fortunately 
in  the  large  majority  of  the  people  there  is  a  mixture 
of  conservatism  and  radicalism.  They  see  the  good 
of  the  old  and  yet  have  their  eyes  open  to  the  need 
for  progress.  They  are  ready  to  accept  reform  when 
it  has  been  proved  that  a  proposed  reform  is  wise, 
but  they  ask  that  the  proof  shall  be  clear  and  con- 
clusive. 

Classes. — One  of  the  greatest  difficulties  in  the 


206  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

way  of  the  spread  of  wise  self-government  is  the 
existence  of  classes  among  the  people.  In  almost 
every  town  there  have  been  two  classes  of  people  in 
the  past.  One  may  be  called  the  land-owning 
class,  the  wealthy  class,  the  educated  class  or  the 
ruling  class.  Any  one  of  these  four  names  describes 
it.  The  people  of  this  class  are  wealthy  because 
they  have  been  the  land-owners ;  they  are  educated 
because  they  have  had  the  wealth  to  educate  their 
sons  in  private  schools  from  generation  to  genera- 
tion ;  and  they  have  been  the  ruling  class,  firstly  on 
account  of  their  education  and  secondly  because  the 
Spanish  government  encouraged  this  class  by  in- 
stituting a  form  of  government  in  which  it  was 
given  all  the  power.  The  other  class  may  be  de- 
scribed as  the  poor,  uneducated  class,  without  polit- 
ical power. 

The  existence  and  continuance  of  these  classes  is 
contrary  to  the  spirit  of  popular  government.  We 
have  already  seen  that  no  government  under- 
takes to  make  its  citizens  equal,  yet  we  have  seen 
also  that  popular  government  must  aim  at  equality 
as  an  ideal.  The  establishment  of  public  schools 
and  the  sale  of  public  lands  in  small  farms  will 
tend  to  alter  these  conditions. 

The  purpose  is  not  to  drag  down  the  higher  class 


SOME  PRINCIPLES  OF  GOVERNMENT        207 

to  the  level  of  the  lower,  but  to  elevate  the  lower 
class  to  the  plane  of  the  higher. 

Some  individuals  of  the  higher  class  may  oppose 
such  a  reform  for  the  reason  that  they  desire  to 
retain  their  old  power  and  influence;  such  opposi- 
tion will  be  useless,  for  the  march  of  progress  has 
invariably  overcome  opposing  individuals.  On  the 
whole,  however,  this  reform  will  meet  the  approval 
of  the  intelligent  people.  It  is  one  of  those  reforms 
which  can  be  advanced  very  much  by  the  higher 
class.  They  will,  as  a  whole,  welcome  it,  for  their 
loss  of  the  political  monopoly  will  be  repaid  them 
by  the  greater  enlightenment  and  prosperity  of 
their  country,  combined  with  the  greater  satisfac- 
tion of  being  the  chosen  officials  of  an  intelligent 
people  rather  than  the  self-imposed  rulers  of  an 
ignorant  one. 


APPENDIX. 


BILL  OF  RIGHTS. 

Sec.  5.  That  no  law  shall  be  enacted  in  said  islands  which 
shall  deprive  any  person  of  life,  liberty,  or  property  without 
due  process  of  law,  or  deny  to  any  person  therein  the  equal 
protection  of  the  laws. 

That  in  all  criminal  prosecutions  the  accused  shall  enjoy 
the  right  to  be  heard  by  himself  and  counsel,  to  demand 
the  nature  and  cause  of  the  accusation  against  him,  to  have 
a  speedy  and  public  trial,  to  meet  the  witnesses  face  to  face, 
and  to  have  compulsory  process  to  compel  the  attendance  of 
witnesses  in  his  behalf. 

That  no  person  shall  be  held  to  answer  for  a  criminal 
offense  without  due  process  of  law;  and  no  person  for  the 
same  offense  shall  be  twice  put  in  jeopardy  of  punishment, 
nor  shall  be  compelled  in  any  criminal  case  to  be  a  witness 
against  himself. 

That  all  persons  shall  before  conviction  be  bailable  by 
sufficient  sureties,  except  for  capital  offenses. 

That  no  law  impairing  the  obligation  of  contracts  shall  be 
enacted. 

That  no  person  shall  be  imprisoned  for  debt. 

That  the  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  shall  not 
be  suspended,  unless  when  in  cases  of  rebellion,  insurrection, 
or  invasion  the  public  safety  may  require  it,  in  either  of 
which  events  the  same  may  be  suspended  by  the  President, 
or  by  the  governor,  with  the  approval  of  the  Philippine  Com- 
mission, wherever  during  such  period ,  the  necessity  for  such 
suspension  shall  exist. 

That  no  ex  post  facto  law  or  bill  of  attainder  shall  be 
enacted. 

(208) 


APPENDIX  209 

That  no  law  granting  a  title  of  nobility  shall  be  enacted, 
and  no  person  holding  any  office  of  profit  or  trust  in  said 
islands,  shall,  without  the  consent  of  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States,  accept  any  present,  emolument,  office,  or  title 
of  any  kind  whatever  from  any  king,  queen,  prince,  or  for- 
eign State. 

That  excessive  bail  shall  not  be  required,  nor  excessive 
fines  imposed,  nor  cruel  and  unusual  punishment  inflicted. 

That  the  right  to  be  secure  against  unreasonable  searches 
and  seizures  shall  not  be  violated. 

That  neither  slavery,  nor  involuntary  servitude,  except  as 
a  punishment  for  crime  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been 
duly  convicted,  shall  exist  in  said  islands. 

That  no  law  shall  be  passed  abridging  the  freedom  of 
speech  or  of  the  press,  or  the  right  of  the  people  peaceably 
to  assemble  and  petition  the  Government  for  redress  of 
grievances. 

That  no  law  shall  be  made  respecting  an  establishment  of 
religion  or  prohibiting  the  free  exercise  thereof,  and  that  the 
free  exercise  and  enjoyment  of  religious  profession  and 
worship,  without  discrimination  or  preference,  shall  forever 
be  allowed. 

That  no  money  shall  be  paid  out  of  the  treasury  except 
in  pursuance  of  an  appropriation  by  law. 

That  the  rule  of  taxation  in  said  islands  shall  be  uniform. 

That  no  private  or  local  bill  which  may  be  enacted  into 
law  shall  embrace  more  than  one  subject,  and  that  subject 
shall  be  expressed  in  the  title  of  the  bill. 

That  no  warrant  shall  issue  but  upon  probable  cause, 
supported  by  oath  or  affirmation,  and  particularly  describing 
the  place  to  be  searched  and  the  person  or  things  to  be 
seized. 

That  all  money  collected  on  any  tax  levied  or  assessed 
for  a  special  purpose  shall  be  treated  as  a  special  fund  in  the 
treasury  and  paid  out  for  such  purpose  only. 


INDEX. 


A. 

Action,    Civil  , 36-7 

Criminal     36-7 

Aguinaldo,   Emilio    .  . . 157 

Alcaldes     86,  88,  112 

American  Occupation  of  the  P.  I.  .152 
American  Occupation  of  Manila...  153 

Arrest    30,    31,    194-5 

Arellano,    Cayetano    161 

Assembly,    Philippine    162-3 

Assessment   of   Real   Property.  .147-50 
Associate      Judges      of      Supreme 

Court     187,  192 

Asylums     56-7 

Attorney-General    191-2 

B. 
Bail    197 

Balangay     84,  85,  86 

Ballot    121-3 

Barrio     , 86 

Battle  of  Manila  Bay 153 

Bill   of    Rights    162,208-9 

Board     of     Health     169 

Board   of   Tax  Appeals    150-1 

Bond   of   Municipal   Officials 126-7 

Branches   of  Government    72-3 

Bribery     115-6 

Brigands      26 

Bureau    of    Agriculture 170-1 

Architecture      and      Construc- 
tion  of   Public    Buildings. .  .176 

Coast    Guaad   and   Transporta- 
tion      174 

Customs    and    Immigration.  .  .175 

Education    176 

(2 


Engineering  and  Construction.174 

Forestry     167 

Insular    Treasury    174 

Insular   Auditor    175 

Light  Houses   174 

Posts     173-4 

Public    Health    168-9 

Public    Lands    170 

Public    Printing    176 

Prisons    174 

Statistics      176 

Telegraphs    174 


Cabeza    de    Bcrangay 

86,  88,  89,  90,  112 

Candidate    115 

Capitan    Municipal 88,  89,  112 

Cart   Tax    144,  145,  146 

Carrying  the  Mails   55-6 

Cedula    90,  144,  145-6 

Central   Government    71,  159-76 

Census 162 

Certificate    of    Election 125 

Cession  of  the  P.  I.  to  the  U.  S..154-6 
Chief     Justice     of     the     Supreme 

Court     161,  187,  192 

City  in  the   U.   S 77,  78,  80 

Civil    Action    36 

Civil   Code    172 

Civil    Engineering    50 

Civil     Government,     Establishment 

of    in    P.    1 158-9 

Civil    Governor    160,  167-8,  172 

Civil   Rights,  see   Rights. 


21S 


INDEX. 


Clerk   of   Court   of   First   Instance 

185,  192,  198,  202 

Clerk    of    Supreme    Court 191 

Code,    Denned    92,  179 

Code    of    Civil    Procedure     179 

Columbus     152-3 

Commission,  the   158,  159,  160 

Commissioner  of   Public   Health.  168-9 

Common   Law    178 

Compulsory    Education    45 

Constabulary    172-3,  174 

Conservative      204-5 

Cooper,  Joseph  F 161 

Corporation    Line     80-1,82 

Corruption     115-6 

Councillors,    see    Municipal    Coun- 
cillors. 

County     77 

l         Government  of    78 

Country,    the    77-8 

Courts     177-92 

Courts    of     First    Instance 

,     161,  179,  185-6 

Court    of    Land    Claims 180 

Crimes,  by  Individuals 28 

against    Society 28 

prevention     of      29-30 

Criminal    Action     36 

Criminal    Code    179 

Cubans     : 172 

Curate,    Spanish    90 

Custom    177-8,  179 

Custom    House     64.  175 


Damages    36 

Datu     .   85 

Decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court.. 

187,  188-9 

Defendant    199,  200 

Delegados     89 

Democracy,   Pure    75 

Department  of  Commerce  and  Po- 
lice      161,  172-4 

of  Finance  and  Justice.  161,  174-6 


of   the   Interior    160,168-72 

of  Public  Instruction.  ..  .161,  176 
Dewey,    Commodore    George 153 

E. 

Elections,  Municipal   107-28 

Election  Day   120 

Election    Judges,    Board    of 

119,    120,  121,  124 

Elector 110-2 

Elector's  Oath   118 

Eminent   Domain    52 

Encomendero     86 

Equality      108-9 

Equality    of    Opportunity 109-11 

Europe    42,  43 

Examination,    Preliminary.182-3,  195-6 

Executive   Bureaus    165-76 

Executive     Departments 160,  167-8 

Export    Duties    65-6 

Extradition     195 

F. 

Federal   Government    74 

Fees     for     Registration     of     Land 

Titles     140 

Fines    143 

Fiscal    ...132,  185,  192,  199,  200,  201 

Forestry   Bureau    144-5 

Forestry   Tax    144-5 


General   Superintendent  of  Educa- 
tion      176 

Gobernadorcillos     87,  112 

Government,    Central    159-76 

Definition    of     17 

Democratic      75 

for   the   People    20 

in    the    U.     S 74 

Local    69 

of  Towns  and  Cities  see  Town 
and    Municipal    Government. 

Provincial    70,  125-36 

Representative     78-80 


INDEX. 


213 


Government,    defined     21 

Three    Branches    of 72-3 

Governor,    see    Military    Governor, 
Civil     Governor,     Provincial     Gov- 
ernor. 

H. 

Habeas  Corpus 196-7 

Harbors     57 

Hospitals     *. 57 

I. 

Ide,   Henry   C 158 

Import    Duties 64 

Industrial    Taxes     ..68,  144,  145,  146 
Insurrection  against  the  U.   S. ..157-8 

J. 

Japan    43 

Jolo    25 

Journal  of  Municipal  Council.. 99,  100 
Judge   of   Court   of   First    Instance 

185,    192,  198,  199,  201 

Judges'   Oath    38 

Judicial     Branch     of     the     Central 

Government    161 

Justice     17 

Justice   Courts    178-9 

Justice    of   the    Peace 181-4,  192 

Jurisdiction,    defined     180-1 

Jurisdiction    of   Justice    Courts.  .181-4 
Jurisdiction   of  Court  of  First  In- 
stance      185-6 

L. 

Ladd,    Fletcher    161 

Laws    19 

Legarda,   Benito    160 

Legislature,  the   163 

Libraries     57 

Licenses     66,  143,  146 

Light-houses     57 

List    of    Municipal    Electors. ..  .118-9 

Local  Government    69 

Luzurriaga,  Jose  160 


M. 

Mails    55 

Majority     100,  124 

Majority    Rule    . '. 203-4 

Malay   Race    84 

Manila   Bay    25 

Manila    Observatory     171 

Mapa,   Victorius    161 

Maura  Law,  the 88 

McKinley,    President    William. ..  .153 

Military  Governor    158 

Mindanao    25 

Moros     25 

Moses,    Bernard    158 

Municipal  Board  of  Assessors 148 

Code     92-3,  159 

Council     94,  95-100,  101-3 

Councillors    

94,   96,  98,  106,  107,  127-8 

Expenditures     140-51 

Government     81-125 

see  Town  Government. 

President    94,  95,  96,  97, 

98,  99,  103-5,  117,  118,  119,  148 

Secretary    94,96,97,105 

Treasurer     94,  105,  148 

Revenues    140-51 

N. 

Negritos     42 

Normal   School    85 

O. 

Oath  of  Municipal  Officials 12fl 

Oath  of  Municipal  Elector 118 

Oath  of  Judge    38 

Officer  of  the   Court 184,  185,  191 

Ordinance,   Municipal    100 


Peace  Officers   29 

Philippine  Government  Act 

161-2,  163-6,  170 

Piracy     25 


214 


INDEX. 


Plaintiff     199 

Plurality     124,  125 

Police   Courts   180,  202 

Political  Parties 114-5 

Political    rights    32 

Post    Offices    173-4 

President's    Court    (Municipal)  . . . 

180,  104-5 

Primary  Schools   40 

Principalia    88,  89,  90 

Property   Taxes    62-3 

Provincial     Board. .  .131,  133-4,  150-1 

Code    141,  159 

Expenditures     140-51 

Fiscal     .... 

132,  185,  192,  199,  200,  201 

Government    70,  125-36 

Governor    130-1 

Election  of    135-7 

Provincial    Revenues    140-51 

Secretary    131,  135 

Schools     40-1 

Supervisor    131-2 

Treasurer    ...131,  134,  146-7,  148 

Public   Lands   in   the   P.    1 170 

in  the   U.    S 76 

Public    Servants    21-2 

Public   Schools    40-7 

Public  Work    18 

Pueblo     85 

Punishment     30,  36 

Puritans    42 

Q. 

Qualifications   of   an    Elector. ..  .111-3 

of  Town  Officials 126 

of  Provincial  Officials 135 

Quarterly  Meetings  of  Town  Presi- 
dents      138-9 

Quorum     96 

R. 

Radical,   the    204-5 

Railroads     54 

Rajah    Soliman    85 


Real  Property  Tax 

63,  141,  142,  143,  146 

Remedy   for  Wrongs   Imperfect...   39 

Remontados    26 

Rights,    Civil    32 

Equality   of    32 

Limitations  of   33 

of  Minority    204 

Political     32 

Protection   of    34-6 

Roads    48-54 

Robbers,    Bands    of    26-7 

Roman    Roads    53-4 


School    Grounds    46 

School   Houses    46-7 

Sewers     1 57 

Smith,   James   F 161 

Solicitor-General     191 

Spanish  Occupation  of  the  P.  I. . .   85 

Stamp  Taxes 67,  144 

State  Government  in   the   U.S... 76-7 

Streets     48-52 

Street  Lights   57 

Suffrage     108 

Sumatra    84 

Supreme    Court.  161,  179,  187-9,  190-1 

Supreme   Court   Reports 189 

Supreme   Court  Reporter    191 

T. 

Taft,  William  H 158,  160 

Tavera,   Pardo  H - 160 

Taxes     19,  58-68 

Apportionment    of    61 

How   Assessed  on   Real   Prop- 
erty      147-50 

How    Collected    146-7 

How   Levied    145-6 

Kinds  of   62 

Joint    Municipal    and    Provin- 
cial      14S-5 

Municipal    only    141-3 

Provincial   only    140-1 


INDEX. 


215 


Telegraph    56 

Territory    in   the   U.    S 76 

Tie   Vote  in  Municipal  Council. .  .100 

Torres,   Florentino    161 

Town,    Incorporated   in   the    U.    S. 

77,  78,  80,  81 

Town   in  the   P.   1 81-3 

Town      Council,      see      Municipal 
Council. 

Elections    107-28 

Government  in  P.  I.. 90-1,  92-125 

History    of    84-91 

Officials,  see  Municipal  Presi- 
dent, Municipal  Secretary, 
etc. 

Township,  New  England    75 

Western     76 

Treaty   of   Paris    152,  156 


Trial    198-202 

Tribal   Wars    25 

U. 
University    41 

V. 
Veto    of    Municipal    President.  .100-1 

Vice-Governor    161 

Visayas     25 

Voting  in  Municipal  Elections. .  .120-3 

W. 
War  between  U.  S.  and  Spain....  152 

Weather   Bureau    171-2 

WTillard,    Charles  A 161 

Worcester,   Dean   C 158 

Wright,   Luke   E 158,161 


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